The 2018 Billboard Music Awards, hosted by The Voice coach, Kelly Clarkson, was an emotional and celebratory night of nostalgic and one-of-a-kind musical performances and touching moments all to celebrate this year’s biggest and best in music! This year’s show aired live on both coasts from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 20th on NBC.
Kendrick Lamar and Ed Sheeran were the night’s big winners, receiving six awards each. Lamar received Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Male Artist, Top Rap Album, Top Streaming Artist and Top Streaming Song (Audio). Accepting his awards all the way from Dublin, Ireland, Sheeran took home Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist and Top Radio Song. Bruno Mars, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber follow close behind, winning five awards each. Mars took home awards for Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Male Artist, Top R&B Tour, Top R&B Album and Top R&B Song. For “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber won for Top Hot 100 Song, Top Collaboration, Top Selling Song, Top Latin Song, Top Streaming Song (Audio) and Top Streaming Song (Video).
Other multi-category winners include: Imagine Dragons (Top Duo/Group, Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Album, Top Rock Song); Chris Stapleton (Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist and Top Country Album); The Chainsmokers (Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top Dance/Electronic Album, Top Dance/Electronic Song); Taylor Swift (Top Female Artist and Top Selling Album); Tasha Cobbs Leonard (Top Gospel Artist and Top Gospel Album); Ozuna (Top Latin Artist and Top Latin Album); and U2 (Top Touring Artist and Top Rock Tour).
The two fan-voted award winners were BTS for Top Social Artist and Camila Cabello for Billboard Chart Achievement Award.
The show had special moments, catering to audiences of all ages. Perhaps the most memorable was a medley from ICON Award recipient Janet Jackson, who electrified the stage with a performance of some of her biggest hits including “If” and “Nasty.”
Ariana Grande opened the show with a rousing performance of her new hit single “No Tears Left to Cry.” Host Kelly Clarkson took the stage next, welcoming the audience in the arena and at home to what was sure to be an unforgettable night and was joined on stage by the famous Las Vegas entertainers.
Dua Lipa delivered a visually entertaining performance of her single “New Rules,” which featured a stage full of dancers and a giant flamingo. Jennifer Lopez and DJ Khaled fired up the stage with their new collaboration, “Dinero,” while new dad John Legend had the audience grooving to “A Good Night.”
Khalid pulled double duty, first performing with Normani for his song “Love Lies” and returning to the stage for an emotional duet of “Youth” alongside Shawn Mendes and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Show Choir from Parkland. Prior to being joined by Khalid, Mendes took the stage to sing his new pop hit “In My Blood.”
Ed Sheeran gave a special performance of “Galway Girl,” appropriately coming to viewers from Galway.
The Chainsmokers and Halsey delivered touching remarks in memory of the late DJ, Avicii, who passed away earlier this year.
Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato brought the house down with the show-stopping world television debut of Aguilera’s empowering new song “Fall In Line.”
The evening featured more memorable group performance including Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey with their catchy single “The Middle,” Macklemore featuring Kesha on his song “Good Old Days,” and Pharrell Williams and Camila Cabello on “Sangria Wine,” before Cabello performed solo on her fan-favorite hit “Havana.”
Host Kelly Clarkson took a break from her duties to show off her impressive pipes with a single from her new album, Whole Lotta Woman.
Global music stars BTS performed the world television premiere of their new single “Fake Love” from their recently released album Love Yourself: Tear and were nearly drowned out by the sounds of their fans screaming.
The show closed with a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue, who joined together to perform legendary hit songs “Shoop,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” “Push It,” and “Whatta Man.”
Presenters throughout the evening included Hailey Baldwin, Tyra Banks, Alison Brie, The Chainsmokers, Ciara, Andy Cohen, Simon Cowell, Darren Criss, Halsey, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Justin Hartley and Chrissy Metz, Nick Jonas and Mustard, Chloe Kim, Mila Kunis, Padma Lakshmi, Des Linden, Julia Michaels, French Montana, NE-YO, Derek Hough and Jenna Dewan, Bebe Rexha, Evan Ross and Ashlee Simpson, Grace VanderWaal and Rebel Wilson.
Billboard Music Awards nominees and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the chart period of April 8, 2017 through March 31, 2018. Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of artists, songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of success in music.
See below for a full list of non-televised winners:
ARTIST AWARDS
ICON Award:
Janet Jackson
Top Artist:
Ed Sheeran
Top New Artist:
Khalid
Billboard Chart Achievement Award:
Camila Cabello
Top Male Artist:
Ed Sheeran
Top Female Artist:
Taylor Swift
Top Duo/Group:
Imagine Dragons
Top Billboard 200 Artist:
Drake
Top Hot 100 Artist:
Ed Sheeran
Top Streaming Songs Artist:
Kendrick Lamar
Top Song Sales Artist:
Ed Sheeran
Top Radio Songs Artist:
Ed Sheeran
Top Social Artist:
BTS
Top Touring Artist:
U2
Top R&B Artist:
Bruno Mars
Top R&B Male Artist:
Bruno Mars
Top R&B Female Artist:
SZA
Top R&B Tour:
Bruno Mars
Top Rap Artist:
Kendrick Lamar
Top Rap Male Artist:
Kendrick Lamar
Top Rap Female Artist:
Cardi B
Top Rap Tour:
JAY-Z
Top Country Artist:
Chris Stapleton
Top Country Male Artist:
Chris Stapleton
Top Country Female Artist:
Maren Morris
Top Country Duo/Group Artist:
Florida Georgia Line
Top Country Tour:
Luke Bryan
Top Rock Artist:
Imagine Dragons
Top Rock Tour:
U2
Top Latin Artist:
Ozuna
Top Dance/Electronic Artist:
The Chainsmokers
Top Christian Artist:
MercyMe
Top Gospel Artist:
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
ALBUM AWARDS
Top Billboard 200 Album:
Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
Top Selling Album:
Taylor Swift – Reputation
Top Soundtrack:
Moana
Top R&B Album:
Bruno Mars – 24K Magic
Top Rap Album:
Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
Top Country Album:
Chris Stapleton – From A Room: Volume 1
Top Rock Album:
Imagine Dragons – Evolve
Top Latin Album:
Ozuna – Odisea
Top Dance/Electronic Album:
The Chainsmokers – Memories…Do Not Open
Top Christian Album:
Alan Jackson – Precious Memories Collection
Top Gospel Album:
Tasha Cobbs Leonard – Heart. Passion. Pursuit.
SONG AWARDS
Top Hot 100 Song:
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber “Despacito”
Top Streaming Song (Audio):
Kendrick Lamar “HUMBLE.”
Top Streaming Song (Video):
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber “Despacito”
Top Selling Song:
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber “Despacito”
Top Radio Song:
Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”
Top Collaboration:
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber “Despacito”
Top R&B Song:
Bruno Mars “That’s What I Like”
Top Rap Song:
Post Malone ft. 21 Savage “Rockstar”
Top Country Song:
Sam Hunt “Body Like A Back Road”
Top Rock Song:
Imagine Dragons “Believer”
Top Latin Song:
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber “Despacito”
Top Dance/Electronic Song:
The Chainsmokers & Coldplay “Something Just Like This”
Top Christian Song:
Hillsong Worship “What A Beautiful Name”
Top Gospel Song:
J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise “You Deserve It”
