Justin Gray becomes first Canadian to win Grammy Award in Best Immersive Audio Album category
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
Step aside Drake, The Weeknd, and other Toronto-based artists; there’s a new Grammy Award-winning musician at the podium – and his name is Justin Gray.
At last night’s 68th Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, the Beach-based artist took home the Best Immersive Audio Album award for his second studio album Immersed.
He is now the first Canadian to ever win a Grammy in the category.
“Thank you so much to the recording academy and congratulations to our other nominees. Your work reflects the immense possibilities of immersive audio,” said Gray during his speech at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1.
Gray’s album, which features a collection of more than 38 artists from different cultural backgrounds, was mixed in Dolby Atmos to allow for a 360-degree, multi-speaker listening experience.
The album celebrates Gray’s mixed Indian and Canadian heritage with songs that infuse the western sounds of rock, blues and jazz with traditional Indian instruments like the sitar, sarod, and table, to create a distinctly unique sound.
Gray was born and raised in the Beach, attending local schools Balmy Beach, Glen Ames, and Malvern Collegiate, where he met his wife, Natalie.
Following high school, Gray was enrolled in the renowned music program at The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024), where he now works as a full-time professor of audio production.
In the closing remarks of his speech at the Grammy Awards, Gray expressed love for his hometown of Toronto and a deep appreciation for music’s ability to uplift others.
“To Toronto, Canada – we love you,” said Gray. “Music is a gift that we all share and can we continue to maintain and just continue to uplift each other through this beautiful art-form.”
