Tegan, Sara and Jackie Mittoo Win 2024 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Awards

Tegan and Sara’s 2004 album So jealous and Jackie Mittoo’s 1970 record Macka Grease won the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize this year.

Each year, the award recognizes Canadian classical albums released before the start of the Polaris Music Prize in 2006, regardless of album sales and affiliations. One album is selected by an 11-member Polaris Heritage Prize jury and the other by a public vote. Macka Grease was selected by the jury, and So jealous was voted the winner by the public.

Macka Grease is considered a reggae album that constitutes “an important part of the musical pipeline from Jamaica to Toronto,” according to a press release. Kevin Howes, the DJ, producer and writer behind the From Jamaica to Toronto compilation disc featuring Mittoo, shared in the version that Macka Grease is “a blessed Studio One blast, recorded in 1971 during a reggae and soul trip back to Kingston, Jamaica, via Toronto, Ontario, Canada.”

LISTEN | The official audio for ‘Ghetto Organ’ by Jackie Mittoo:

So jealous is the fourth studio album by Tegan and Sara and was nominated for a Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year.

“Thank you to the Polaris Prize for recognizing one of our favorite albums and honoring us with this award. So jealous is not only loved by our fans; it’s an album that changed our lives forever,” the sisters shared in a press release. “With the unwavering support of co-producers John Collins, David Carswell and Howard Redekopp, as well as musicians Matt Sharp, Rob Chursinoff and Chris Carlson, we pushed our writing and musical instincts to the extreme.

WATCH | The official music video for “Walking With a Ghost” by Tegan and Sara:

“We are grateful to our former managers, Nick Blasko and Piers Henwood, who encouraged our experimentation and supported us in the face of sexism and homophobia in the press in the months and years following the release of So jealous“, they continued. “This album inspired us to demand more equitable treatment for women and LGBTQ+ people in the music industry.”

The winning albums beat out other nominated works from Sarah Harmer, Robbie Robertson and many others. The full list of nominees for the 2024 Heritage Prize is below:

• AcadiaDaniel Lanois
• Against the glassSlow
• Canadian SuiteThe Oscar Peterson trio
• The Dome, Jean Leloup
• Julie Doiron and the wooden starsJulie Doiron and the wooden stars
• CombinatorThe consanguines
• LindbergRobert Charlebois and Louise Forestier
• Macka GreaseJackie Mittoo
• Reconstruction siteThe weakest
• Robbie RobertsonRobbie Robertson
• So jealousTegan and Sara
• You were thereSarah Harmer