The 2022 ''Billboard'' Music Awards were held on May 15, 2022, at the

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Sporting events From its opening on December 18, 1993 ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Hosted by

Sean "Diddy" Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

, the show aired live on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

and was also available for streaming on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

. Nominations across 62 categories—for releases during the period dated April 10, 2021 to March 26, 2022—were announced online through Twitter on April 8, 2022.

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

received the most nominations of any artist, with 17;

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat ( ), is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song ...

was the most-nominated female act with 14;

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...

was the most-nominated group with seven.

Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She gained recognition in the late 2010s with her lead roles on the Disney television programs ''Bizaardvark'' and '' High School Musical: The Music ...

won seven awards, including Top New Artist, and was the most-awarded artist at the show.

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

won five awards, including Top Artist, and extended his record as the most-awarded artist in BBMA history, with 34 wins overall. BTS won three awards, including Top Duo/Group, and became the most-awarded group in BBMA history with 12 wins overall, breaking a 17-year record previously held by

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

became the first artist to win the ''Billboard'' Music Award for Top Hot 100 Song for a second time since the category's inception in 1990.

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

was honored with the 10th ''Billboard'' Icon Award.

Background and viewership

Nominations were announced on April 8, 2022, via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, and selected from releases during the eligibility period of March 26, 2021, through April 10, 2022, which corresponded to ''Billboard''s chart dates of April 10, 2021, through March 26, 2022. Five new categories were included: Top ''Billboard'' Global 200 Artist, Top ''Billboard'' Global Excl. U.S. Artist, Top ''Billboard'' Global 200 Song, Top ''Billboard'' Global Excl. U.S. Song, and Top Viral Song, taking the ceremony's total to 62 categories. The global categories are based on ''Billboard''s Global 200/Global Excl. U.S. charts launched in 2020 while the Viral Song category was created to honor songs that achieve virality on social media platforms, namely

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

. No fan-voted categories were announced.

was announced as the show's host (and executive producer alongside Robert Deaton) on April 22. The awards were preceded by the first-ever ''Billboard'' MusicCon, a 2-day music event sponsored by

Smirnoff Smirnoff (; ) is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov (1831–1898). It is distributed in 130 countries. Smirnoff produ ...

and held on May 13 and 14 at Area15 in Las Vegas. Participants comprised both artists and executives, and included industry managers like Dina Sahim (

Swedish House Mafia Swedish House Mafia (SHM) is a Swedish house music supergroup consisting of Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. The group officially formed in late 2008, were placed at number ten on the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJ Poll 2011, and have been ...

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

), Alex DePersia (

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

Gracie Abrams Gracie Madigan Abrams (born September 7, 1999) is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut EP, '' Minor'', was released in July 2020 through Interscope Records. Her second EP, ''This Is What It Feels Like'', was released in November 2021, with s ...

), and Nelly Ortiz (

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...

). International artists invited as guest speakers included

Anitta Anitta may refer to: * Anitta (king), Hittite king *Anitta (singer) Larissa de Macedo Machado (born March 30, 1993), known professionally as Anitta, is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and television host. She is regarded as one of biggest Brazi ...

Burna Boy Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He rose to stardom in 2012 after releasing "Like to Party", the lead single from his debut studio album, '' L.I ...

, Ukrainian singer

Max Barskih Mykola Mykolaiovych Bortnyk ( uk, Микола Миколайович Бортник, born 8 March 1990), better known by his stage name Max Barskih ( uk, Макс Барських) and alter-ego Mickolai, is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter. ...

, and

Rauw Alejandro Raúl Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz (born January 10, 1993), known professionally as Rauw Alejandro, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. Referred to as the " King of Modern Reggaeton", he belongs to "the new generation" of Puerto Rican urban musi ...

. Anitta, Shenseea,

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

Latto Alyssa Michelle Stephens (born December 22, 1998), professionally known as Latto or Big Latto (formerly known as Mulatto), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She first appeared on American rapper Jermaine Dupri's reality television s ...

, and

Machine Gun Kelly George Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954), better known by his pseudonym "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thom ...

were among the performers. Panels held included discussions on the evolution of the music scene across genres and cultures, and women in music, among other related topics. The 2022 ceremony garnered the lowest viewership in the history of the show, with 2.11 million viewers. The three-hour long broadcast earned an average 0.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic on NBC, dropping even lower than the previous year's 0.7 rating and 2.8 million audience.

Performers

The first performance lineup was announced on April 19. It included four first-time performers: Rauw Alejandro,

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...

, Latto, and Burna Boy.

Silk Sonic Silk Sonic is an American musical superduo composed of musicians Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. The duo released their debut single, "Leave the Door Open", in March 2021. They later released "Skate" in July 2021, followed by third single, " ...

Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and ...

, Maxwell—slated for a "special tribute performance to a pop icon"—and

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of ''The Voice'', originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated ...

were announced on April 29.

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition in 2011 when she began posting videos of herself covering popular songs online. One of her videos caught t ...

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

and

Elle King Tanner Elle Schneider (born July 3, 1989), known professionally as Elle King, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her musical style was influenced by Country music, country, Rock music, rock and blues. In 2012, King released her d ...

, and Travis Scott were announced on May 9. The

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

, who were included in the initial April 19 lineup, cancelled their performance on May 11, "due to unforeseen circumstances". Machine Gun Kelly and

Dan + Shay Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

were subsequently added. Silk Sonic, Becky G, and Kelly made their BBMA performance debuts at the show. For Wallen, it was his first award show performance since being banned from attending and performing at various ceremonies in early 2021 after his racial slur controversy, while for Scott it was only his second live performance since the

Astroworld Festival crowd crush On November 5, 2021, a fatal Crowd collapses and crushes, crowd crush occurred during the first night of the 2021 Astroworld Festival, a music event founded by American musician Travis Scott that was held at NRG Park in Houston, Texas. Eight p ...

in November 2021. Sheeran performed live from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Icon Award recipient

, who was originally announced as a performer on April 14, did not perform at the show.

Presenters

The initial list of presenters was released on May 13. Additional presenters were announced later that day and on the following, through the BBMAs official

account. *

City Girls City Girls is an American hip hop duo consisting of Yung Miami (Caresha Romeka Brownlee; born February 1994) and JT (Jatavia Shakara Johnson; born December 1992). The duo originate from Miami, Florida, and garnered attention after making an un ...

– presented Top R&B Artist *

Lainey Wilson Lainey Denay Wilson (born May 19, 1992) is an American country music singer–songwriter and actress. Wilson performed from an early age, before going to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career as a country performer. In 2014, she released her f ...

– presented Top Rap Female Artist *

and

Heidi Klum Heidi Klum (; born 1 June 1973) is a German-American model, television host, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 1998 and was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secre ...

– presented Top Rock Artist *

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a sol ...

– introduced Florence and the Machine *

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

and

– presented Top Country Duo/Group *

AleXa Alexa may refer to: Technology *Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon * Alexa Internet, a defunct website ranking and traffic analysis service * Arri Alexa, a digital motion picture camera People *Alexa (name), a given name and ...

— previewed "What's Coming Up" * Diddy – presented the Revolt Black Excellence Award to

Tamika Mallory Tamika Danielle Mallory (born September 4, 1980) is an American activist. She was one of the leading organizers of the 2017 Women's March, for which she and her three other co-chairs were recognized in the ''TIME'' 100 that year. She received t ...

and introduced

Liza Koshy Elizabeth Shaila "Liza" Koshy (born March 31, 1996), is an American media personality and actress. Her main YouTube channel has amassed more than 17 million subscribers, and her two channels have a combined total of over 3 billion views. She ha ...

– presented Top Dance/Electronic Album *

Shenseea Chinsea Lee (born 1 October 1996), known professionally as Shenseea, is a Jamaican dancehall artist. She initially gained attention after appearing on songs by Vybz Kartel, Sean Paul, and Christina Aguilera. In 2019, she signed a recording contr ...

– presented Pepsi Mic Drop *

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

– presented the Icon Award * Diddy and

– introduced Travis Scott *

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper, songwriter and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 20 ...

– presented Top Country Male Artist *

Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Shumpert ( Taylor; born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. In 2005, she signed a record deal with Pharrell Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Afterwards, she choreographe ...

— presented the Change Maker Award * Diddy with graduates of Capital Prep — introduced Ed Sheeran *

Dove Cameron Dove Olivia Cameron (born Chloe Celeste Hosterman; January 15, 1996) is an American singer and actress. She became famous for her double role of the eponymous characters in the Disney Channel comedy series ''Liv and Maddie'', for which she won ...

and

Dixie D'Amelio Dixie Jane D'Amelio ( ; born August 12, 2001) is an American singer and social media personality known for her videos on TikTok. She is the elder sister of Charli D'Amelio. She was born in Norwalk, Connecticut. In 2020, she starred in the You ...

– presented Top R&B Album *

Chloe Bailey Chloe Elizabeth Bailey (born July 1, 1998), also known by her mononymous stage name Chlöe, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is best known for being one half of the musical duo Chloe x Halle with her sister Halle Bailey. Tog ...

– introduced Becky G * Diddy – introduced Jozzy *

Giveon Giveon Dezmann Evans (born February 21, 1995), better known by his mononym Giveon (stylized as GIVĒON), is an American singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence with his collaboration with Drake on their 2020 single, " Chicago Freestyle". That s ...

– introduced Burna Boy

Winners and nominees

led the nominations for a second consecutive year, with 17 to his name.

was the most-nominated female artist with 14.

earned the most nominations of any duo/group in BBMA history, with seven.

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

received a record-extending eighth nomination in the Top Artist category.

, nominated alongside Swift in the aforementioned, also earned a nomination for Top New Artist, making her the third consecutive artist in BBMA history—following

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...

in 2020 and Pop Smoke in 2021—to be simultaneously nominated in both categories in the same year. Winners for 54 non-televised awards were announced in a

livestream on the red carpet, hosted by Tetris Kelly and Tiffany Taylor prior to the start of the show. The rest were revealed during the live television broadcast. Rodrigo won seven awards and was the most-awarded artist at the show.

garnered five awards, including Top Artist, taking his total wins to 34 overall and extending his record as the most-decorated artist in BBMA history. BTS won the most awards of any duo or group at the show, winning three of their seven nominations, including their third Top Duo/Group award which tied them with

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

for the most wins in that category. They also became the most-awarded group in BBMA history—12 wins overall—breaking a 17-year record previously held by

with 11 wins. Bieber won his second award for Top Hot 100 Song, with "

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tri ...

", and became the only artist to win the award twice since it was first presented in 1990. Blige was honored with the 10th ''Billboard'' Icon Award, while youth activist Mari Copeny (Little Miss Flint) received the third Change Maker Award in honor of her environmental advocacy efforts for

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billboard Music Awards 2022 in Nevada 2022 awards in the United States 2022 in American music 2022 music awards Billboard awards Billboard Music Award May 2022 events in the United States MGM Grand Garden Arena