Bad Bunny leads 2022 American Music Awards nominations

Beyoncé, Drake & Taylor Swift follow with six each

Dick Clark Productions and ABC have announced nominees for the 2022 American Music Awards (AMAs), the world’s largest fan-voted awards show, which will air live from Microsoft Theater at LA Live in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 20th at 8 pm EST/PST on ABC.

The nominations announcement kicked off ABC’s Good Morning America with a reveal of the 2022 New Artist of the Year nominees, featuring a video of 2x AMA winner Becky G surprising this year’s nominees with the news. Additional nominees were announced via the AMAs Twitter account. Fan voting for all awards is now open via VoteAMAs.com and Twitter, except for Favorite K-Pop Artist which will open on Tuesday, November 1st.

Reigning Favorite Male Latin Artist Bad Bunny is this year’s most-nominated artist with eight nods, including his first nomination for Artist of the Year. He could tie Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston for the most awards in a single year should he win in all eight categories. Bad Bunny is also up for Favorite Touring Artist, Favorite Music Video, Favorite Male Pop Artist, Favorite Pop Album, Favorite Male Latin Artist, Favorite Latin Album, and Favorite Latin Song.

Powerhouses Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are the most-nominated female artists with six nominations each and will face off in three categories: Artist of The Year, Favorite Female Pop Artist and Favorite Pop Album. Drake also earned six nods and is up for the evening’s top honor, Artist of the Year.

Close behind with five nominations each are Adele, Harry Styles, and The Weeknd, including Artist of the Year. Should Adele or The Weeknd take home Artist of the Year, it would be their first win in that category, and Styles’ first win as a solo artist and third overall, having won twice while part of One Direction. This will be the second win for Favorite Pop Album for Adele, the first for The Weeknd, and the second for Harry Styles as a solo artist and fourth overall, having won in 2013 and 2014 with One Direction. This would be a first win for Adele (“Easy On Me”) and Harry Styles (“As It Was”) in the Favorite Pop Song category.

First-time nominees dominate this year’s American Music Awards. More than 40 artists received their first-ever nomination, including Jack Harlow with four, Tems with four, Latto with three, Blackpink, Anitta and Swedish House Mafia with one apiece.

With two nods for Collaboration of the Year and Favorite Touring Artist, Elton John makes history as the longest-recognized artist in AMA history to-date. He was nominated for Top Pop/Rock Male in 1974 at the inaugural American Music Awards.

New categories this year are Favorite K-Pop Artist, the first-ever AMA category dedicated to the K-Pop genre, Favorite Afrobeats Artist, Favorite Rock Song and Favorite Rock Album, rounding out the Rock categories bringing the total to three in the genre.

Multiple global superstars will battle it out for the night’s biggest honor, Artist of the Year. Nominees include Adele, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Drake, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and The Swift is the current record-holder for most wins in this category with six wins, and holds the record for most AMA wins of all time, 34.

The AMAs represents the year’s top achievements in music determined by the fans, for the fans. Last year’s show stands as the most social telecast of 2021 with 46.5 million interactions, underscoring the role fans play in the annual event. A vibrant night of non-stop music, the AMAs features a powerful lineup featuring first-time collaborations and exclusive world premiere performances from music’s biggest names – from Pop to Rap, R&B to Country, Latin to K-Pop – and more, as well as memorable moments that live on in pop culture.

As the world’s largest fan-voted awards show, the AMAs will air globally across a footprint of linear and digital platforms in more than 120 countries and territories.

The 2022 American Music Awards winners are voted entirely by fans. Nominees are based on key fan interactions – as reflected on the Billboard charts – including streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay, and tour grosses. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partner Luminate, and cover the eligibility period of September 24, 2021, through September 22, 2022.

Artist of the Year
  • Adele
  • Bad Bunny
  • Beyoncé
  • Drake
  • Harry Styles
  • Taylor Swift
  • The Weeknd
New Artist of the Year
  • Dove Cameron
  • Gayle
  • Latto
  • Måneskin
  • Steve Lacy
Collaboration of the Year
  • Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
  • Elton John & Dua Lipa “Cold Heart – PNAU Remix”
  • Future ft. Drake & Tems “Wait For U”
  • Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow “Industry Baby”
  • The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber “Stay”
Favorite Touring Artist
  • Bad Bunny
  • Coldplay
  • Ed Sheeran
  • Elton John
  • The Rolling Stones
Favorite Music Video
  • Adele “Easy On Me”
  • Bad Bunny ft. Chencho Corleone “Me Porto Bonito”
  • Harry Styles “As It Was”
  • Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow “Industry Baby”
  • Taylor Swift “All Too Well: The Short Film”
Favorite Male Pop Artist
  • Bad Bunny
  • Drake
  • Ed Sheeran
  • Harry Styles
  • The Weeknd

Favorite Female Pop Artist

  • Adele
  • Beyoncé
  • Doja Cat
  • Lizzo
  • Taylor Swift
Favorite Pop Duo or Group
  • BTS
  • Coldplay
  • Imagine Dragons
  • Måneskin
  • OneRepublic
Favorite Pop Album
  • Adele “30”
  • Bad Bunny “Un Verano Sin Ti”
  • Beyoncé “Renaissance”
  • Harry Styles “Harry’s House”
  • Taylor Swift “Red (Taylor’s Version)”
  • The Weeknd “Dawn FM”
Favorite Pop Artist
  • Adele “Easy On Me”
  • Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
  • Harry Styles “As It Was”
  • Lizzo “About Damn Time”
  • The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber “Stay”
Favorite Male Country Artist
  • Chris Stapleton
  • Cody Johnson
  • Luke Combs
  • Morgan Wallen
  • Walker Hayes
Favorite Female Country Artist
  • Carrie Underwood
  • Lainey Wilson
  • Maren Morris
  • Miranda Lambert
  • Taylor Swift
Favorite Country Duo or Group
  • Dan + Shay
  • Lady A
  • Old Dominion
  • Parmalee
  • Zac Brown Band
Favorite Country Album
  • Carrie Underwood “Denim & Rhinestones”
  • Luke Combs “Growin’ Up”
  • Cody Johnson “Human: The Double Album”
  • Taylor Swift “Red (Taylor’s Version)”
  • Walker Hayes “Country Stuff: The Album”
Favorite Country Song
  • Chris Stapleton “You Should Probably Leave”
  • Cody Johnson “’Til You Can’t”
  • Dustin Lynch ft. MacKenzie Porter “Thinking ‘Bout You”
  • Jordan Davis ft. Luke Bryan “Buy Dirt”
  • Morgan Wallen “Wasted on You”
Favorite Male Hip Hop Artist
  • Drake
  • Future
  • Kendrick Lamar
  • Lil Baby
  • Lil Durk
Favorite Female Hip Hop Artist
  • Cardi B
  • GloRilla
  • Latto
  • Megan Thee Stallion
  • Nicki Minaj
Favorite Hip Hop Album
  • Future “I Never Liked You”
  • Gunna “DS4EVER”
  • Kendrick Lamar “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers”
  • Lil Durk “7220”
  • Polo G “Hall of Fame 2.0”
Favorite Hip Hop Song
  • Future ft. Drake & Tems “Wait For U”
  • Jack Harlow “First Class”
  • Kodak Black “Super Gremlin”
  • Latto “Big Energy”
  • Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow “Industry Baby”
Favorite R&B Artist
  • Brent Faiyaz
  • Chris Brown
  • Giveon
  • Lucky Daye
  • The Weeknd
Favorite Female R&B Artist
  • Beyoncé
  • Doja Cat
  • Muni Long
  • Summer Walker
  • SZA
Favorite R&B Album
  • Beyoncé “Renaissance”
  • Drake “Honestly, Nevermind”
  • Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak) “An Evening with Silk Sonic”
  • Summer Walker “Still Over It”
  • The Weeknd “Dawn FM”
Favorite R&B Song
  • Beyoncé “Break My Soul”
  • Muni Long “Hrs And Hrs”
  • Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak) “Smokin Out The Window”
  • SZA “I Hate U”
  • Wizkid ft. Tems “Essence”
Favorite Male Latin Artist
  • Bad Bunny
  • Farruko
  • J Balvin
  • Jhayco
  • Rauw Alejandro
Favorite Female Latin Artist
  • Anitta
  • Becky G
  • Kali Uchis
  • Karol G
  • Rosalia
Favorite Latin Duo or Group
  • Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga
  • Calibre 50
  • Eslabon Armado
  • Grupo Firme
  • Yahritza Y Su Esencia
Favorite Latin Album
  • Bad Bunny “Un Verano Sin Ti”
  • Farruko “La 167”
  • J Balvin “JOSE”
  • Rauw Alejandro “Vice Versa”
  • Rosalia “Motomami”
Favorite Latin Song
  • Bad Bunny ft. Chencho Corleone “Me Porto Bonito”
  • Becky G x KAROL G “Mamiii”
  • Karol G “Provenza”
  • Rauw Alejandro “Todo de Ti”
  • Sebastián Yatra “Dos Oruguitas”
Favorite Rock Artist
  • Imagine Dragons
  • Machine Gun Kelly
  • Måneskin
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • The Lumineers
Favorite Rock Song [New]
  • Foo Fighters “Love Dies Young”
  • Imagine Dragons x JID “Enemy”
  • Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”
  • Måneskin “Beggin’”
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers “Black Summer”
Favorite Rock Album [New]
  • Coldplay “Music of the Spheres”
  • Ghost “Impera”
  • Imagine Dragons “Mercury – Act 1”
  • Machine Gun Kelly “mainstream sellout”
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers “Unlimited Love”
Favorite Inspirational Artist
  • Anne Wilson
  • For King & Country
  • Katy Nichole
  • Matthew West
  • Phil Wickham
Favorite Gospel Artist
  • CeCe Winans
  • DOE
  • Dewey Smith
  • Maverick City Music
  • Tamela Mann
Favorite Dance/EDM Artist
  • Diplo
  • Marshmello
  • Swedish House Mafia
  • The Chainsmokers
  • Tiësto
Favorite Soundtrack
  • “Elvis”
  • “Encanto”
  • “Sing 2”
  • “Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4”
  • “Top Gun: Maverick”
Favorite Afrobeats Artist [New]
  • Burna Boy
  • CKay
  • Fireboy DML
  • Tems
  • Wizkid
Favorite K-Pop Artist [New]
  • Blackpink
  • BTS
  • Seventeen
  • Tomorrow x Together
  • Twice

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com