Alanis Morissette, Charlotte Cardin honoured at Billboard Canada's Women in Music awards

BillboardCanada's Women in Music awards celebrated its first edition on Sept. 7 in Toronto,where stars including Alanis Morissette, Charlotte Cardin and Jessie Reyezwererecognized for their craft and impact.In total, 11 artists and music industry executives received awards, including Jully Black andLu Kala.

From heartfeltspeechesto emotionalperformances, here are the most memorable moments from the night.

Jully Black receivedthe impact award

The Juno-winning singer received the impact award for using her platform to uplift Black and Indigenous voices. Before taking the stage to perform a touching cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," she took a moment to call out inequality in the industry:"Women are paid less. If you don't have a seat at the table, build your own," she said.

Later, in her acceptance speech, she listed the women who had positively impacted her life before praising herself:"This is my renaissance at 46 years old," she said. "It gets greater, later."

Jessie Reyezthankedher parents for making her fearless

Reyez took home thetrailblazer award for calling out injustice in the music industry, andshoutedout her parents for their bravery. "To be honest, a lot of the fearlessness that I'm lucky to have,I got from having a front row seat from watching my parents, who came from Colombia to build a life here and trailblazed themselves," she said in her acceptance speech.

Reyez previously received the Billboard Women in Music impact award in 2020 for speaking out about sexism, racism and more.

Charlotte Cardin named woman of the year

Cardin, Billboard Canada's woman of the year,thanked her team as well as her mother and sister in her uplifting speech. "You are the first ones to ever hear my new demos," she said.

The Juno-winning singer also acknowledged her women fansfor their support: "I look at the numbers a little bit, and 75 per cent of my audience is female and I am so grateful for you all," she said.

Later in the evening, she performed her soaring ballad "Next to You" from her Polaris-shortlisted album, 99 Nights.

Alanis Morissettereflected on reaching icon status

Cardin presented Morissette with the icon award and shared that Morissette was one of her inspirations: "I want to say that artists like Alanis Morisettehere tonight are not just performers and incredible songwriters, and musicians, and entertainers, they are true champions of self-esteem and self-acceptance for entire generations."

Morissette then explained what being an icon meant to her: "The definition of icon is a representative symbol thatisworthy ofveneration of great respect and reverence, so that's cool!" she said. "To the degree that I can dictate and impose what I would loveto offer as a symbol,is that I would want to be a symbol of safety to explore as a human being internally, in relationships with life, with oneness," she continued.

The full list of Billboard Canada's Women in Music 2024honoureesis below:

Icon award

Alanis Morissette

Woman of the year

Charlotte Cardin

Trailblazer award

Jessie Reyez

Rising star award

Lu Kala

Impact award

Jully Black

Group of the year

The Beaches

Breakthrough artist of the year

Allison Russell

Executive of the year

Kristen Burke, president of Warner Music Canada

Manager of the year

Laurie Lee Boutet, artist manager at Wednesday Management; andLaurie Chouinard, artist manager and business affairs at Cult Nation

Global manager of the year

Sonali Singh, CEO ofRipple Effect Studios