On Sunday night, the American Music Awards took over L.A.’s Microsoft Theater. Taylor Swift may have gone into the show with a leading six nominations but the pop superstar, who’s on tour overseas and didn’t attend Sunday night’s show, didn’t win any of the televised awards handed out on Sunday night. She did, however, win three non-televised awards.
One Direction took the top prize of artist of the year, with their song “Drag Me Down” playing as the foursome took the stage. Earlier, the band performed their single, “Perfect,” which is rumored to be about Swift, whom Harry Styles dated. The clear trophy was the boy band’s second of the night, also winning for favorite duo or group in the pop/rock category.
Other double winners included Nicki Minaj and The Weeknd, with the latter also delivering a fiery performance of his single “The Hills.” Florida Georgia Line also won two awards, albeit ones that weren’t televised.
Sam Smith and Meghan Trainor, who went into the show with four nominations each were both shut out with Ed Sheeran, a five-time nominee, only taking home one award, for favorite male pop/rock artist.
Jennifer Lopez hosted the show, performing a dance medley of some of the year’s biggest hits at the top of the ceremony. Other performance highlights included a duet of “You Oughta Know” between Alanis Morrissette and Demi Lovato, Jared Leto and Celine Dion’s moving tribute to the victims of last week’s Paris terror attacks and Pentatonix’s a capella performance of the Star Wars score, which was introduced by Harrison Ford and an exclusive scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The AMAs aired on ABC, which like Star Wars company Lucasfilm, is owned by Disney.
AMAs nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected in Billboard magazine and on Billboard.com, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, streaming, social activity and touring. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound.
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, a sister company of The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard. Allen Shapiro and Mike Mahan are executive producers. Larry Klein, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are producers.The winners are voted on entirely by fans.
Photo by Getty Images
The full list of winners follows.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
One Direction — WINNER
Luke Bryan
Ariana Grande
Maroon 5
Nicki Minaj
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
The Weeknd
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY KOHL’S
Sam Hunt — WINNER
Fetty Wap
Tove Lo
Walk The Moon
The Weeknd
SONG OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift “Blank Space” — WINNER
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth “See You Again”
Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!”
Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”
The Weeknd “Can’t Feel My Face”
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR UN-LEASHED BY T-MOBILE
Skrillex & Diplo Featuring Justin Bieber “Where Are Ü Now” — WINNER
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth “See You Again”
Rihanna & Kanye West Featuring Paul McCartney “FourFiveSeconds”
Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!”
Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar “Bad Blood”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Ed Sheeran — WINNER
Nick Jonas
Sam Smith
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Ariana Grande — WINNER
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
One Direction — WINNER
Maroon 5
Walk The Moon
FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Taylor Swift 1989 — WINNER
Ed Sheeran x
Sam Smith In The Lonely Hour
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Luke Bryan — WINNER
Jason Aldean
Sam Hunt
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Carrie Underwood — WINNER
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
FAVORITE DUO or GROUP – COUNTRY
Florida Georgia Line — WINNER
Zac Brown Band
Little Big Town
FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
Florida Georgia Line Anything Goes — WINNER
Jason Aldean Old Boots, New Dirt
Sam Hunt Montevallo
FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Nicki Minaj — WINNER
Drake
Fetty Wap
FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Nicki Minaj The Pinkprint — WINNER
J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Drake If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
The Weeknd — WINNER
Chris Brown
Trey Songz
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Rihanna — WINNER
Beyonce
Mary J. Blige
FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
The Weeknd Beauty Behind the Madness — WINNER
Chris Brown X
D’Angelo and The Vanguard Black Messiah
FAVORITE ARTIST – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Fall Out Boy — WINNER
Hozier
Walk The Moon
FAVORITE ARTIST – ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Taylor Swift — WINNER
Ed Sheeran
Meghan Trainor
FAVORITE ARTIST – LATIN
Enrique Iglesias — WINNER
Ricky Martin
Romeo Santos
FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Casting Crowns — WINNER
Hillsong United
MercyMe
FAVORITE ARTIST – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
Calvin Harris — WINNER
David Guetta
Zedd
TOP SOUNDTRACK
Pitch Perfect 2 — WINNER
Fifty Shades of Grey
Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1
