SOCAN Awards fete Carly Rae Jepsen, Drake, Gordon Lightfoot

Carly Rae Jepsen, Drake and Gordon Lightfoot were celebrated in Toronto at the SOCAN Awards, the annual gala honouring Canadian songwriters and composers.

Canadian music icon Lightfoot the singer-songwriter behind nearly 300 songs including Early Morning Rain, Canadian Railroad Trilogy and other classics received the lifetime achievement award from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada.

Rose Cousins and Whitehorse led a tribute to Lightfoot, performing cover versions of his famed tunes such as If You Could Read My Mind and Sundown.

Younger stars like Drake and Jepsen were recognized for their massive successes in recent years.

The Toronto rapper won the Global Inspiration Award, while the Mission, B.C. pop singer-songwriter earned the International Achievement Award in recognition of her infectious track Call Me Maybe (sharing her win with collaborators Tavish Crowe and Josh Ramsay).

"Canada's music creators are responsible for a truly priceless source of our national pride and culture," said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste.

Others feted at the performance-filled ceremony included:

• Country music: Chad Brownlee, Love Me or Leave Me; Smoke in the Rain.
• Country music: Deric Ruttan, Mine Would Be; Cool. .
• Pop/rock music: Serena Ryder, Stompa; What I Wouldnt Do.
• Pop/rock music: Walk Off the Earth, Red Hands.
• Urban music: Mark Pellizzer, Inner Ninja.
• Dance music: Dragonette, Let It Go.
• SOCAN Classic: Gowan, A Criminal Mind; Dancing on my Own Ground; Strange Animal.
• SOCAN Breakout Award: Ryan Hemsworth.
• Special Achievement Award: Bill Henderson.
• National Achievement Award: Ian Thomas.
• Hagood Hardy Award: Jill Barber.