Taylor Swift, The Weeknd Honored at American Music Awards 2020

Hosted by Taraji P. Henson, the 2020 AMAs aired from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Taylor Swift won her third consecutive artist of the year prize at the American Music Awards earlier tonight, beating out Justin Bieber, Post Malone and Roddy Ricch to take the top award. She also nabbed favorite music video and favorite pop/rock female artist, winning a total of three honors.

In a video feed that aired during the show, Swift said “the reason I’m not there tonight is I’m actually re-recording all of my old music in the studio where we originally recorded it. So it’s been amazing. And I can’t wait for you to hear it.”

The Weeknd didn’t win artist of the year, but did win favorite soul/R&B male artist, favorite soul/R&B album for “After Hours” and favorite soul/R&B song for “Heartless.”

“The last time I received this award it was given to me by the late, great Prince,” said Weeknd. “And, you know, he’s the reason I get to constantly challenge the genre of R&B and yeah, I’d like to dedicate this to him.”

In the spirit of his recent album and music videos, the Weeknd stayed in character throughout the show with his face wrapped in gauze.

Kenny G joined the Weeknd for his performance, playing the sax in downtown Los Angeles as the Weeknd walked across a bridge singing “In Your Eyes.” He finished the performance singing “Save Your Tears.”

The Weeknd was one of several artists who appeared live on stage. Singer-rapper Doja Cat performed and won new artist of the year and favorite soul/R&B female artist. Grammy-winning country duo Dan + Shay beautifully performed “I Should Probably Go to Bed” and won favorite country duo or group, collaboration of the year and favorite country song for “10,000 Hours,” the latter two shared with Bieber.

Katy Perry performed “Only Love,” which featured a surprise guest appearance from Darius Rucker, who sang and played guitar. Jennifer Lopez and Maluma teamed up to perform “Pa’ Ti” and “Lonely” from the film “Marry Me.”

Other performers included BTS, Machine Gun Kelly, Lewis Capaldi, Lil Baby, and Bell Biv DeVoe. Nelly performed songs from his diamond-certified debut album “Country Grammar.”

Becky G, who debuted the song “Shower” in 2014 that recently had a resurgence on TikTok via a dance trend in 2020, won favorite Latin female artist.

“I proudly wave both flags, Mexican and American. And like many, many children and grandchildren of immigrants, no matter where they’re from, we have learned from the ones before us what sacrifice and hard work looks like,” she said. “And I dedicate this award to all of our immigrant workers in this pandemic; the students and immigrant families. It’s because of my family, my abuelitos, that I stand here today.”

Nominees for the AMAs were based on streaming, album and digital sales, radio airplay and social activity, and reflect the time period of Sept. 27, 2019, through Sept. 24, 2020.

See the full list of winners below:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Justin Bieber
Post Malone
Roddy Ricch
*Taylor Swift — WINNER
The Weeknd

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Lewis Capaldi
*Doja Cat — WINNER
DaBaby
Lil Baby
Roddy Ricch
Megan Thee Stallion

COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP”
DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar”
*Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours” — WINNER
Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, “Rain On Me”
Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé, “Savage Remix”

FAVORITE SOCIAL ARTIST
*BTS — WINNER
Billie Eilish
EXO
Ariana Grande
NCT 127

FAVORITE MUSIC VIDEO
Doja Cat, “Say So”
Future ft. Drake, “Life Is Good”
Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, “Rain On Me”
*Taylor Swift, “cardigan” — WINNER
The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
*Justin Bieber — WINNER
Post Malone
The Weeknd

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Dua Lipa
Lady Gaga
*Taylor Swift — WINNER

FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
*BTS — WINNER
Jonas Brothers
Maroon 5

FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
*Harry Styles, Fine Line — WINNER
Taylor Swift, folklore
The Weeknd, After Hours

FAVORITE SONG – POP/ROCK
Lewis Capaldi, “Someone You Loved”
*Dua Lipa, “Don’t Start Now” — WINNER
Post Malone, “Circles”
Roddy Ricch, “The Box”
The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
*Kane Brown — WINNER
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Gabby Barrett
Miranda Lambert
*Maren Morris — WINNER

FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – COUNTRY
*Dan + Shay — WINNER
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion

FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
Luke Combs, What You See Is What You Get
*Blake Shelton, Fully Loaded: God’s Country — WINNER
Morgan Wallen, If I Know Me

FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY
*Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours” — WINNER
Maren Morris, “The Bones”
Blake Shelton (Duet with Gwen Stefani), “Nobody But You”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
DaBaby
*Juice WRLD — WINNER
Roddy Ricch

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Cardi B
*Nicki Minaj — WINNER
Megan Thee Stallion

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Lil Baby, My Turn
Lil Uzi Vert, Eternal Atake
*Roddy Ricch, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial — WINNER

FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
*Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP” — WINNER
DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar”
Roddy Ricch, “The Box”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown
John Legend
*The Weeknd — WINNER

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Jhene Aiko
*Doja Cat — WINNER
Summer Walker

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Doja Cat, Hot Pink
Summer Walker, Over It
*The Weeknd, After Hours — WINNER

FAVORITE SONG – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown ft. Drake, “No Guidance”
Summer Walker, “Playing Games”
*The Weeknd, “Heartless” — WINNER

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – LATIN
*Bad Bunny — WINNER
J Balvin
Ozuna

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – LATIN
*Becky G — WINNER
KAROL G
Rosalía

FAVORITE ALBUM – LATIN
Anuel AA, Emmanuel
Bad Bunny, Las que no iban a salir
*Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG — WINNER

FAVORITE SONG – LATIN
Bad Bunny “Vete”
Black Eyed Peas X J Balvin “RITMO (Bad Boys For Life)”
*KAROL G & Nicki Minaj “Tusa” — WINNER

FAVORITE ARTIST – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Billie Eilish
Tame Impala
*twenty one pilots — WINNER

FAVORITE ARTIST – ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Lewis Capaldi
*Jonas Brothers — WINNER
Maroon 5

FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
*Lauren Daigle — WINNER
for KING & COUNTRY
Kanye West

FAVORITE ARTIST – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
Kygo
*Lady Gaga — WINNER
Marshmello

FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK
*Birds of Prey: The Album — WINNER
Frozen II
Trolls: World Tour