Feist Will Perform a Leonard Cohen Tribute at This Year's Juno Awards

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Among the manifold garbage fire-y aspects of the 2017 Grammy Awards, one of the least forgivable was the lack of a suitable tribute to Leonard Cohen. This year’s Juno Awards, however, will feature just that in the form of multi-Juno Award winner Feist performing “a moving arrangement of one of Cohen’s classic songs,” per a press release. Cohen, a Montreal native, of course bears special significance for the Canadian Juno awards. Some of Cohen’s most iconic songs, such as “Suzanne” and “Sisters of Mercy,” take place in Montreal.

Feist is well-suited to deliver the tribute. Cohen, in interviews, was ready to give credit to covers of his songs that he liked, but asked for a moratorium on thoughtless covers of “Hallelujah.” If Leslie Feist’s “Closing Time” cover in the movie Take This Waltz is any indication, she will offer an inventive and thoughtful take on her song of choice.

Other draws for this year’s Juno Awards include rocker Bryan Adams and comedian Russell Peters as co-hosts, Jus Reign and Tasha the Amazon as presenters, and Alessia Cara, Sarah McLachlan and A Tribe Called Red as performers. Catch the awards on Juno TV on April 2 at 6:30 p.m. EST, listen to Paste Cloud audio of Leonard Cohen performing “Tower of Song” below, and hear Feist’s first new song in six years here.

Feist Will Perform a Leonard Cohen Tribute at This Year’s Juno Awards