Neil Young, Karkwa triumph at Junos

Neil Young kicked off the Juno Awards' 40th anniversary weekend by claiming the trophy for adult alternative album of the year.

The prize was handed out during a dinner gala Saturday at Toronto's Allstream Centre, where 32 of 40 Junos were to be awarded.

Backstage, Young said the older he gets, the more he appreciates such honours.

Young's Juno win for Le Noise comes six weeks after he claimed a Grammy for best rock song the first Grammy he's picked up for his music. He had previously claimed one of the coveted U.S. trophies for the packaging of his "Archives" set.

Thewin brought his career Juno tally to six.

Saturday also saw a Juno win forKarkwa, the Polaris Music Prize winners who claimed the award for francophone album of the year, and Fond of Tigers, who won for instrumental album of the year.

The remaining eight categories were to be decided during Sunday's Juno broadcast from the Air Canada Centre.

Other winners Saturday included Edmonton teenager Quanteisha Benjamin, who claimed the award for R&B/soul recording of the year for Stars, and pin-up pop star Katy Perry, who took the prize for international album of the year for her smash, Teenage Dream.

Daniel Lanois, the Canadian producer behind Young's Le Noise, won the producer of the year honours for his work on the track Hitchhiker on Le Noise and for the song I Believe in You, created with his own band Black Dub.

Toronto rapper Drake, 24,led going into the weekend with six total nominations.

Drakeis also set to host Sunday's hometown awards bash, which promises performances from Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Sarah McLachlan, and boasts appearances from Shania Twain, Randy Bachman and Young, who's scheduled to receive an award for his philanthropy. The show will air on CTV.