American Music Awards
The American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special, which aired on Oct. 6 on CBS, achieved a major milestone, reaching over 12.9 million viewers.
The star-studded special, celebrating five decades of iconic performances and fan-favorite artists, ranked as CBS’s top entertainment program for the month of October, outperforming major sports events such as the MLB Playoffs and NASCAR.
Averaging 6 million viewers, the AMAs became the second most-watched entertainment program of the day, trailing only the NFL. Social engagement added another layer of success, with over 65 million views across social platforms, making it the most-streamed AMAs in the show’s history.
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It also saw a +54% year-over-year growth from the previous show in 2022, and marked the largest year-over-year growth for any music special or award show in 2024.
The broadcast was packed with performances from legendary names including Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, Green Day, and Gladys Knight.
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The show opened with a clip package from the first show, including Stevie Wonder playing “Superstition” and Gladys Knight & the Pips performing “Midnight Train to Georgia.” Both songs were No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973 and remain top-tier classics. The show then cut to Knight performing the song live, with three female backup singers taking the place of Gladys’ beloved Pips.
Emerging talent also shared the stage, including Stray Kids and RAYE, adding a contemporary edge to a night that honored five decades of music.
One of the standout performances came from EGOT recipient Jennifer Hudson, who honored 22-time AMA winner Whitney Houston by recreating a medley Houston performed on the 1994 AMAs, a pairing of “I Loves You, Porgy” from Porgy & Bess and her own smash “I Will Always Love You” from The Bodyguard.
With its fan-voted format, the AMAs have long been a reflection of popular tastes, and the 50th Anniversary Special made it clear why the awards have remained relevant for half a century.
The American Music Awards will return in 2025, live from Las Vegas over Memorial Day Weekend, with an ambitious tribute to America’s veterans and a celebration of the year’s most popular artists.
Music has gone through a lot of changes since the American Music Awards debuted on Feb. 19, 1974, as a fan-driven alternative to the Grammy Awards. American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special, a two-hour special that aired on Sunday, Oct. 6, captured many of those changes in smartly curated segments and fresh performances.
Fifty years is a long time, of course. Two of the three co-hosts of that first show (Roger Miller and Helen Reddy) are no longer with us, nor is the show’s creator, legendary TV producer Dick Clark. The show recently switched networks, from ABC to CBS, which aired this anniversary show and will air the next regular AMA broadcast in May.
The original plan was for the AMAs to debut on CBS with a regular best-of-the-past-year broadcast. Someone had the bright idea to first remind the audience of the AMAs’ considerable history before relaunching the show (which has been on hiatus since 2022.)
Motown legend Smokey Robinson, who was the third co-host of that first show, introduced a segment on this anniversary show. He was one of six former AMAs hosts or co-hosts to appear, along with Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, Reba McEntire, Jimmy Kimmel and Cedric the Entertainer.
The AMAs has had a far longer life than most expected – and that includes Clark himself. In December 1973, Clark was working on the first AMAs. He knew a little publicity couldn’t hurt, so he found time for an interview with Billboard’s Bob Kirsch which ran on page one of the Dec. 15, 1973 issue under the headline “ABC-TV Slates Favorite Acts’ Awards Feb. 19.”
At the end of the piece, Clark attempted to take the long view of his fledgling show and said “If this is done properly, we may have a show that will last 20 years and will finally get the general public involved in popular music awards.”
Clark underestimated the longevity of his own creation. Next year’s AMAs will be the 51st.
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special was produced by Dick Clark Productions. Michael Dempsey served as executive producer.
Here are eight moments from the AMAs special in which they most effectively told the big-picture story of the vast changes in popular music in the last 50 years.
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special is produced by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldrige. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
Gladys Knight Performs a Classic
Mariah Carey is many things – but casual isn’t one of them. So naturally, when she performed Sunday (Oct. 6) evening at the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special, she had to make an entrance. The middle portion of a giant hot pink ‘M’ on the AMAs stage opened up to reveal the diva herself, […]
On Sunday (Oct. 6) night, the American Music Awards celebrated a half century with the two-hour American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special on CBS. The evening featured various walks down memory lane as well as new performances from today’s biggest artists, each one representing a different musical genre. For the boy band tribute, Stray Kids […]
Brad Paisley, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Green Day, Jennifer Hudson, Kane Brown, Mariah Carey, RAYE and Stray Kids are set to perform on the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special. The two-hour broadcast airs Sunday, Oct. 6, concurrently on both coasts from 8-10 p.m. ET/5-7 p.m. PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
The special will also feature appearances by 17-time AMA winner Carrie Underwood and past AMA hosts and performers Gloria Estefan and Jennifer Lopez. Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted the AMAs five times between 2003 and 2008, will also make a special appearance. Additional performers and guest appearances will be announced.
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The AMAs revealed details about what the performers will be doing on the show:
10-time AMA winner Mariah Carey will perform a medley of hits off her multiplatinum 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi. The performance will kick off the album’s 20th anniversary celebration.
K-pop stars Stray Kids will deliver a special performance honoring the legacy of boy bands at the AMAs.
EGOT recipient Jennifer Hudson will honor 22-time AMA winner Whitney Houston, one of the top AMA winners of all time, with a performance tribute. Hudson also paid tribute to Houston on the Grammy telecast in 2012 by performing “I Will Always Love You” – just one day after Houston’s shocking death at age 48.
Two-time AMA winner Brad Paisley will honor the late Charley Pride, who won two awards on the first AMA show in February 1974 – favorite country male artist and favorite country album for A Sunshiny Day With Charley Pride. Paisley will also perform his new single.
Gladys Knight, a seven-time AMA winner who performed with the Pips on the first show in 1974, will return to the AMAs stage for an encore performance of the group’s landmark 1973 hit “Midnight Train to Georgia.”
Chaka Khan will celebrate 50 years of achievements by female artists on the AMAs with a performance of her 1978 hit “I’m Every Woman.”
Singer-songwriter RAYE will perform the 1966 James Brown classic “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” following a retrospective on the American Music Award of Merit, which has been presented to such legends as Brown, Bing Crosby, Billy Joel, Prince and Whitney Houston.
Three-time AMA winners Green Day will perform their recent hit, “Dilemma,” which is featured on their album Saviors, which in February debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
Five-time AMA winner Kane Brown will celebrate the legacy of country music at the AMAs with a performance of classic and current hits.
CBS and Dick Clark Productions (DCP) announced on April 26 that the 2024 AMAs would run in the Oct. 6 timeslot. It was to have been the show’s debut on CBS after nearly 50 years on ABC. Instead, the AMAs franchise will debut on CBS with this anniversary special.
The regular, yearly AMAs show has been bumped to May 2025. It will be the first yearly AMAs show since the one that aired on Nov. 20, 2022, with Wayne Brady hosting.
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special will feature new performances, artist interviews, special guests, and never-before-seen footage from DCP’s extensive archives. The program will feature themed highlights from AMAs’ show archives, each culminating with an original performance or artist interview. Segments will look back on the evolution of specific artists and genres at the AMAs, as well as award and performance milestones.
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Michael Dempsey is executive producer.
ABC aired a 20th anniversary AMAs special in 1993. Kenny Rogers hosted the two-hour program.
The American Music Awards is the world’s largest fan-voted awards show. Nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected on the Billboard charts – including streaming, album sales, song sales and radio airplay.
The AMAs were created by legendary producer Dick Clark in 1973 as a fan-based alternative to the Grammys.
In December 1973, Clark was working on the first AMAs, which would launch on Feb. 19, 1974. The veteran producer knew a little publicity couldn’t hurt, so he found time for an interview with Billboard’s Bob Kirsch that ran on page one of the Dec. 15, 1973, issue under the headline “ABC-TV Slates Favorite Acts’ Awards Feb. 19.”
At the end of the piece, Clark attempted to take the long view of his fledgling show and said “If this is done properly, we may have a show that will last 20 years and will finally get the general public involved in popular music awards.”
Clark underestimated the longevity of his own creation. Next year’s AMAs will be the 51st. (There were two shows in 2003 and none at all in 2023 or 2024.)
That first show in 1974 ran just 90 minutes. It has been allotted three hours for many years, though the length of the 2025 show has not been announced. The show in the first five years had a tight focus on three broad genres – pop/rock, soul/R&B and country. It now recognizes far more genres, including hip-hop, Latin, inspirational, gospel, Afrobeats and K-pop.
But, for the most part, the vision that Clark outlined to Kirsch in 1973 still guides the show.
“This is probably the first time a major effort has been made to sample the U.S. public music taste through popular vote. … To date, we have received extremely favorable response from those in the music industry we have talked to about the show. They seem delighted at the opportunity to be honored by the music-buying public.”
DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldrige. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special, a two-hour retrospective special, will air on Sunday, Oct. 6, in the time slot that the 2024 AMAs was going to fill. That show has been bumped to May 2025. It will be the first yearly AMAs show since the one that aired on Nov. 20, 2022 with Wayne Brady hosting.
CBS and Dick Clark Productions announced on April 26 that the 2024 AMAs would run in the Oct. 6 timeslot. It was to have been the show’s debut on CBS after nearly 50 years on ABC. Instead, the AMAs franchise will debut on CBS with an anniversary special which promises to be more ambitious than a standard “clip show.”
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special will feature new performances, artist interviews, special guests, and exclusive never-before-seen footage from DCP’s extensive archives.
Trending on Billboard
The program will feature themed highlights from AMAs’ expansive show archives, each culminating with an original performance or artist interview. Segments will look back on the evolution of specific artists and genres at the AMAs, as well as award and performance milestones. The performances, created just for American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special, will include collaborations, debuts from today’s top stars and appearances from AMAs legends. Performers will be announced in the coming weeks.
The special will air concurrently on both coasts, from 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET/5:00-7:00 p.m. PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special is produced by Dick Clark Productions.
ABC aired a 20th anniversary American Music Awards special in 1993. Kenny Rogers hosted the two-hour program.
Nominees on the AMAs are based on key fan interactions as reflected on the Billboard charts – including streaming, album sales, song sales and radio airplay.
The AMAs were created in 1973 as a fan-based alternative to the Grammys. The first two Grammy live telecasts in March 1971 and March 1972 aired on ABC. When the Grammys shifted to CBS for the March 1973 telecast, ABC looked for a show to fill that void and went with Dick Clark’s fan-based show.
In December 1973, Clark was working on the first AMAs, which would launch on Feb. 19, 1974. The veteran producer knew a little publicity couldn’t hurt, so he found time for an interview with Billboard’s Bob Kirsch which ran on page one of the Dec. 15, 1973 issue under the headline “ABC-TV Slates Favorite Acts’ Awards Feb. 19.”
At the end of the piece, Clark attempted to take the long view of his fledgling show and said “If this is done properly, we may have a show that will last 20 years and will finally get the general public involved in popular music awards.”
Clark underestimated the longevity of his own creation. Next year’s AMAs will be the 51st. (There were two shows in 2003 and none at all in 2023 or 2024.)
That first show in 1974 ran just 90 minutes. It has been allotted three hours for many years, though the length of the 2025 show has not been announced. The show in the first five years had a tight focus on three broad genres – pop/rock, soul/R&B and country. It now recognizes far more genres, including hip-hop, Latin, inspirational, gospel, Afrobeats and K-pop.
But, for the most part, the vision that Clark outlined to Kirsch in 1973 still guides the show.
“This is probably the first time a major effort has been made to sample the U.S. public music taste through popular vote. … To date, we have received extremely favorable response from those in the music industry we have talked to about the show. They seem delighted at the opportunity to be honored by the music-buying public.”
Helen Reddy, Smokey Robinson and Roger Miller co-hosted that first show – each representing one of the three main genres. Reddy, who was red-hot at the time, was also the inaugural winner of favorite pop/rock female artist.
Clark, a master showman, was a legend in both music and television. He received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 1990 and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1992. He died in 2012 at age 82.
DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldrige. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
Watch Latin American Music Awards
The American Music Awards, a fixture on ABC from 1974 to 2022, is moving to CBS. The first show on its new network is set for Sunday, Oct. 6, live on both coasts at 8:00 p.m. ET and 5:00 p.m. PT and streaming on Paramount+.
The official announcement was made on Friday (April 26) by CBS and Dick Clark Productions (DCP), which is producing the 2024 AMAs. Nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected on the Billboard charts – including streaming, album sales, song sales and radio airplay.
The AMAs are the third major awards show that CBS has picked up in the past few years, following the CMT Music Awards (in 2022) and the Golden Globes (earlier this year, having previously broadcast the show in 1981-82). CBS has also been the long-time home of the Grammy Awards (since 1973), the Tony Awards (since 1978) and the Kennedy Center Honors (also since 1978).
With the AMAs leaving ABC, the Oscars are ABC’s longest-running awards show. The Oscars moved from NBC to ABC in 1976.
The AMAs were created as a fan-based alternative to the Grammys. The first two Grammy live telecasts in March 1971 and March 1972 aired on ABC. When the Grammys shifted to CBS for the March 1973 telecast, ABC looked for a show to fill that void and went with Dick Clark’s fan-based show.
In December 1973, Clark was working on the first AMAs, which would launch on Feb. 19, 1974. The veteran producer knew a little publicity couldn’t hurt, so he found time for an interview with Billboard’s Bob Kirsch which ran on page one of the Dec. 15, 1973 issue under the headline “ABC-TV Slates Favorite Acts’ Awards Feb. 19.”
At the end of the piece, Clark attempted to take the long view of his fledgling show and said “If this is done properly, we may have a show that will last 20 years and will finally get the general public involved in popular music awards.”
Clark underestimated the longevity of his own creation. This year’s AMAs will be the 51st (there were two shows in 2003).
That first show ran just 90 minutes. It has been allotted three hours for many years, though this year’s show length has not been announced. The show in the first five years had a tight focus on three broad genres – pop/rock, soul/R&B and country. It now recognizes far more genres, including hip-hop, Latin, inspirational, gospel, Afrobeats and K-pop.
But, for the most part, the vision that Clark outlined to Kirsch 50 years ago still guides the show.
“This is probably the first time a major effort has been made to sample the U.S. public music taste through popular vote. … To date, we have received extremely favorable response from those in the music industry we have talked to about the show. They seem delighted at the opportunity to be honored by the music-buying public.”
Helen Reddy, Smokey Robinson and Roger Miller co-hosted that first show – each representing one of the three main genres. Reddy, who was red-hot at the time, was also the inaugural winner of favorite pop/rock female artist. Clark was executive producer of that first show. Bill Lee was producer. John Moffitt directed.
Clark, a master showman, was a legend in both music and television. He received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 1990 and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1992. He died in 2012 at age 82.
DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldrige. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
Machine Gun Kelly loves The Office just as much as you do — so much so that the “Papercuts” singer showed up to the 2022 AMAs red carpet on Sunday with Michael Scott’s “World’s Best Boss” mug (content unknown) and gushed about his love of the program while chatting with Billboard‘s correspondent kenzie.
After noticing MGK’s mug, kenzie asked the rock star who his favorite character on the show was, and he has such an appreciation of the show that he was unable to pick just one person. “I like Oscar, I like Kevin, I like Kelly, I like Erin, I like Andy, I like Dwight — I love Dwight — love Michael Scott, love Pam, love Jim. Pretty much who walked into that office, I love,” he said.
The conversation then pivoted to the recent release of Machine Gun Kelly’s latest movie, Taurus. In the semi-autobiographical film — which was released last week on Nov. 18 — Kelly plays the role of Cole, who according to the movie’s official synopsis is “a rising but troubled musician [who] searches for the inspiration to record his next song, pushing himself deep into the void.”
When asked what it was like filming the movie, which also stars his fiancée Megan Fox as Mae, his ex-wife in the film, MGK said it was quite “depressing.” Why? “You should watch the movie.”
See Machine Gun Kelly’s red carpet interview with Billboard at the 2022 American Music Awards in the video above.
Sabrina Carpenter attended the 2022 American Music Awards on Sunday and dished to Billboard all about her new album Emails I Can’t Send.
“My favorite song on the album changes every single day,” the pop star admitted to Billboard’s special red carpet correspondent kenzie on the red carpet. “I’d say today it’s probably a song called ‘Tornado Warnings.’ But the most fun to write was my now single ‘Nonsense,’ which I just put out a video for.
“It’s just the silliest song,” she continued of the track, “and when we were writing it, I was like, ‘It’s never gonna be put out.’ … At first I was like, ‘It doesn’t make sense with the album,’ and then I kind of realized that there’s a lot of dual feelings to heartbreak and grieving and moving on, and it can happy and sad and confident and insecure. So yeah, that’s one of my favorites too.”
During the awards show, Carpenter presented the trophy for favorite music video alongside Dustin Lynch to Taylor Swift for All Too Well: The Short Film from Swift’s 2021 re-recording Red (Taylor’s Version).
Last month, the pop singer wrapped up a 12-date U.S. tour in support of her fifth studio album, which also contains “Skinny Dipping,” “Fast Times,” “Vicious” and “Because I Liked a Boy.” The LP as a whole peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 upon its release, giving Carpenter the highest chart entry of her career.
Watch Carpenter break down her favorite songs on Emails I Can’t Send below.
Kim Petras has Taylor Swift’s seal of approval. At Sunday’s (Nov. 20) AMAs, Swift had the chance to catch up with the pop singer backstage and express her love for Petras and one of her songs.
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Catching up near the bar at the event, Swift leaned into hug Petras, and exclaimed, “I love your song so much. I’ve done a lot of butt-popping to that” in a brief video that has circulated on social media.
The “Anti-Hero” singer sadly did not name the track that she hasn’t been able to stop playing, but there is one song that Petras is on that has been making the rounds in a major way. Petras features on Sam Smith’s “Unholy” — the track debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, but later crowned the chart on Oct. 29. After 11 weeks on the chart, Smith and Petras’ collab scored a nod at the 2023 Grammy Awards in the best pop duo/group performance category and is up against tracks by ABBA, Camila Cabello ft. Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and BTS, and Post Malone and Doja Cat. The nomination marks Petras’ first at the Grammys.
Smith and Petras’ “Unholy” was not up for any awards at the 2022 AMAs last night, but Swift was another story. The “Anti-Hero” singer won six awards, bringing her career-win total to 40. Sunday’s winning streak continues Swift’s tradition of being the most awarded artist in the show’s 50-year history; she has more awards than Michael Jackson (26 wins), Whitney Houston (22) and Kenny Rogers (19).
Watch Swift and Petras’ cute catch-up below.