The 2015 edition of the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize. The prize was inc ...

was presented on September 21, 2015 at

The Carlu The Carlu is an historic event space in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1930 and known as the eponymous "Eaton's Seventh Floor", the venue was restored and reopened in 2003, renamed for its Jacques Carlu, original architect. The Carlu is one ...

event theatre in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

."Polaris Music Prize Announces 2015 Long List"
''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', June 16, 2015. The event was hosted by children's entertainer

Fred Penner Frederick Ralph Cornelius Penner (born November 6, 1946) is a Canadian children's entertainer and musician known for the song "The Cat Came Back" and his television series, ''Fred Penner's Place'', which aired on Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

. In May 2015,

Slaight Communications Slaight Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. The company was formed as Slaight Broadcasting in 1971, when owner J. Allan Slaight acquired CFGM in Richmond Hill. Slaight later also acquired CFOX in Montreal and CHOK in Sar ...

announced an additional contribution to the Polaris fund which saw the prize for the winning album increased to $50,000, as well as $3,000 to each of the non-winning nominees.

Shortlist

The ten-album shortlist was announced on July 16. In March 2025, after the controversy around Sainte-Marie's long-claimed indigenous Canadian heritage, the Polaris committee revoked her award.Kevin Maimann
"Buffy Sainte-Marie stripped of Juno, Polaris music awards"

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

, March 7, 2025.

Longlist

The prize's preliminary 40-album longlist was announced on June 16 at the Carleton Music Bar and Grill in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Heritage Prize

In 2015, the Polaris committee also launched the Heritage Prize, an awards program to honour classic Canadian albums released before the creation of the Polaris Prize."Polaris Music Prize Announces Heritage Prize Nominees"
''

'', September 18, 2015. Each year four shortlists of albums from four historical periods in Canadian music will be released, following which a public online vote will choose which album to honour. These will be announced separately from the main Polaris Prize. The winners for 2015 were announced on October 9."Joni Mitchell, Cowboy Junkies, Sloan and Peaches Take Home Polaris Heritage Prizes"
''

'', October 9, 2015. The four winning albums will be honoured with a tribute concert in Toronto in early 2016, a trophy and the sale of a limited edition commemorative print.

1960s-1970s

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

, ''

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

'' *

The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

, ''

Music from Big Pink ''Music from Big Pink'' is the debut studio album by the Canadian-American rock band the Band. Released on July 1, 1968, by Capitol Records, it employs a distinctive blend of country, rock, folk, classical, R&B, blues, and soul. The album's t ...

'' *

Robert Charlebois Robert Charlebois (born June 25, 1944) is a Canadian author, composer, musician, performer and actor. Charlebois was born in Montreal, Quebec. Among his best known songs are ''Lindberg'' (the duo with Louise Forestier in particular), ''Ordi ...

and Louise Forestier, ''

Lindberg Lindberg is a municipality in the district of Regen in Bavaria in Germany in the immediate neighbourhood of the larger town Zwiesel. Location Lindberg lies in the Danube Forest (''Donau-Wald'') region in the middle of the Bavarian Forest on ...

'' *

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, '' Songs of Leonard Cohen'' * Jackie Shane, ''Jackie Shane Live''

1980s

Cowboy Junkies Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses ...

, '' The Trinity Session'' *

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; 25 September 19324 October 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was among the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian ...

, '' Bach: The Goldberg Variations'' *

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer and musician. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Harold Budd ...

, '' Acadie'' *

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited ...

, ''

Symphony in Effect ''Symphony in Effect'' is the debut album by Canadian rapping, rapper Maestro (rapper), Maestro Fresh-Wes, released in 1989 on Attic Records (Canada), Attic/LeFrak-Moelis Records, LMR Records. In Canada, the album was certified Canadian Recording I ...

'' *

Mary Margaret O'Hara Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and composer. She is best known for the album ''Miss America'', released in 1988. She released two albums and an EP under her own name, and remains active as a live performer, as a con ...

, ''

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

'' * Rush, '' Moving Pictures''

1990s

* Sloan, '' Twice Removed'' *

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and colla ...

, '' Five Days in July'' *

Bran Van 3000 Bran Van 3000 (also known as BV3) is a Canadian alternative rock and hip hop collective from Montreal, Quebec. Founded by James Di Salvio and E.P. Bergen, they collaborated on a number of songs with Stéphane Moraille, Sara Johnston, Steve "Liqu ...

, ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'' * Dream Warriors, '' And Now the Legacy Begins'' *

Lhasa de Sela Lhasa de Sela (September 27, 1972 – January 1, 2010), also known by the mononym Lhasa, was an American-Canadian singer-songwriter who was raised in Mexico and the United States and divided her adult life between Canada and France. Her first a ...

, ''

La llorona (; ) is a vengeful ghost in Hispanic American folklore who is said to roam near bodies of water mourning her children whom she drowned in a jealous rage after discovering her husband was unfaithful to her. Whoever hears her crying either suffer ...

2000-2005

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...

, '' The Teaches of Peaches'' *

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...

, ''

Funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

'' *

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the ...

, ''

You Forgot It in People ''You Forgot It in People'' is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock band Broken Social Scene, released on October 15, 2002. It was the band's commercial breakthrough. ''You Forgot It in People'' features intricate, experimental productio ...

'' * Constantines, '' Shine a Light'' * Feist, '' Let It Die''

References

External links

Polaris Music Prize
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polaris Music Prize 2015 in Canadian music 2015 music awards

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...