Awards
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Sir Rod Stewart capped the 2025 American Music Awards by accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award and giving the audience one of his patented high-energy performances to end the show on Monday (May 26).
The 80-year-old icon was introduced by five of his eight children — Kim, Ruby, Renee, Liam and Sean — who honored their dad’s 60-year career, which has seen him sell millions upon millions of albums worldwide thanks to such Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits as “Maggie May, “Hot Legs,” “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and “Some Guys Have All the Luck.”
“I’m absolutely flabbergasted — I had no idea they were here,” a gobsmacked Rod the Mod said after hugging it out with his brood, cheekily joking that he’s got “eight all together … I didn’t have a television.”
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Stewart recalled that when he started singing in the early 1960s, “well before all of you lot were here,” he said, gesturing to the crowd, “the reason I got into it was because I had this burning ambition to sing. That’s all I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be rich or famous.” The vocalist who began his career singing blues and R&B standards in his native England before joining the Jeff Beck Group and then Faces and launching his mega-successful solo era, thanked all the musicians he’s played with over the years as well as his biggest influences, including Sam Cooke, Temptations singer and solo star David Ruffin and blues great Muddy Waters.
Honors aside, Stewart seemed genuinely touched that five of his children were sharing the stage with him, shouting out the sweet surprise once again before plugging his Caesars Palace residency gig and then jauntily skipping over to the stage to perform his 1988 Hot 100 No. 12 hit “Forever Young.”
Wearing daringly tight pinstriped black pants, a white tuxedo jacket and a ruffled white shirt opened to reveal his chest and a chunky necklace, the raspy voiced icon looked ageless as he played air guitar while singing “May good fortune be with you, may your guiding light be strong/ Build a stairway to heaven with a prince or a vagabond/ And may you never love in vain,” as a trio of backup singers in shimmering black minidresses echoed the song’s ageless chorus back to him.
Stewart’s spirited show-closer also roped in a three-man bagpipe team, adding a bit more pizzazz to a performance that also spun through a Vegas-worthy tap dance break and a double fiddle and marching band drum solo.
Watch Stewart accept the Lifetime Achievement Award below.
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
The 2025 American Music Awards lit up Las Vegas on Monday (May 26), featuring performances from some of the world’s biggest stars as well as prizes celebrating the most major moments in music this past year. Kicking off the show was host Jennifer Lopez, who opened with an eye-catching dance performance set to a hodgepodge […]
Billie Eilish walked away with the artist of the year award at the 2025 American Music Awards, and in a remote acceptance speech, graciously thanked her fans for allowing her to make music. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Jon Batiste awarded Eilish the artist of the […]
Reneé Rapp lit up the 2025 American Music Awards on Monday night (May 26) with the live debut of her brand new single, “Leave Me Alone.”
Introduced by pal Jake Shane, the Mean Girls star kicked off the performance in front of a crowded, makeshift bathroom mirror with three of her dancers before kicking down the set to reveal the stage at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
“Got my hair tied up, phone on don’t disturb/ Leave me alone, babe, I wanna have fun/ I wear my jeans so low, show my my little back dimple/ Leave me alone, babe, I wanna have fun/ Even line my lips just to match my nipples/ Leave me alone, babe, I wanna have fun,” Rapp swaggered on an edited version of the track’s opening verse.
Later, she climbed the steps of the set to join her backing band — all of whom wore white T-shirts emblazoned with the bold statement “I WOULD DIE FOR RENEÉ RAPP” in all caps.
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“Leave Me Alone” serves as the lead single for Rapp’s upcoming sophomore studio set, Bite Me, which is slated for release on Aug. 1 viva Interscope Records. (The song’s lyrics also happen to cheekily reference the wait between 2023’s Snow Angel and the star’s forthcoming follow-up, with her rapping, “Manager called me, said, ‘Where’s that single?’/ Leave me alone, babe, I wanna have fun/ ‘Oh you’re breaking up, babe, I don’t got no signal!’”)
Ahead of the album’s summertime release, Rapp will join the likes of Mariah Carey, Lola Young, KSI, Busted vs. McFly, Zara Larsson, Dasha, Jessie J and fellow AMAs performer Benson Boone on the lineup of Capital’s Summertime Ball with Barclaycard 2025 at London’s Wembley Stadium on June 15.
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Marking the latest stop on his extraordinary rise to pop stardom following the success of “Ordinary,” Alex Warren has made his award show debut by performing the breakthrough track at the American Music Awards on Monday (May 26). Taking the stage in Las Vegas late in the show, the TikToker expertly built up the momentum […]
Eminem has won favorite male hip-hop artist at the 2025 American Music Awards. Twenty-two years after taking home his first AMA in the same category, Slim Shady returned to win against some loaded competition on Monday night (May 26).
The Detroit rapper took home the win over the likes of Drake, Future, Tyler, the Creator and Kendrick Lamar. It’s the ninth American Music Award victory for Em to add another accolade to his decorated trophy case.
Project Runway‘s Heidi Klum presented the award, and the supermodel joked about once recording a track with Snoop Dogg, which makes her “the most unexpected hip-hop artist to come out of Germany.”
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Unfortunately, Em wasn’t in attendance as he remained home in Detroit, but delivered an acceptance speech via video for his millions of fans across the globe.
“AMAs, what’s up? Favorite male hip-hop artist, thank you, I appreciate that. I think it’s been 23 years since I won my first AMA and I’m 24 years old. That’s crazy. Seriously, man, thank you to the fans. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I appreciate y’all. Thank you so much.”
It’s been more than 10 years since Em won an American Music Award, with his last victory coming in 2014 for favorite rap/hip-hop album thanks to The Marshall Mathers LP 2.
2024 was a busy year for Eminem, who returned with his The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) in July. The project debuted atop the Billboard 200 — Em’s 11th album to go No. 1 — with 281,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 18, according to Luminate. At the time of its arrival, TDOSS was the largest week of any rap album in 2024.
Watch Em’s acceptance speech below:
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Janet Jackson is an indisputable cultural icon, so it was only natural that the 10-time Billboard Hot 100-topping artist was honored with the ICON Award at the 2025 American Music Awards on Monday (May 26).
But it seems that the Grammy-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Famer isn’t entirely sold on this whole “icon” business.
“No disrespect in any way, I don’t consider myself an icon,” Jackson said while holding an award that stated otherwise on the Fontainebleau Las Vegas stage. “My family, myself, our dream wasn’t ever to be famous. We weren’t raised like that. We always had a special love for music and dancing and singing, and fame came with the result of hard work and dedication.
“My story, my family’s story, it’s truly an American story,” she added earnestly. “This would have only happened in America. The one thing I hope for is that I’ve been an inspiration to others, to artists, to follow their dreams and succeed.”
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If anyone needed some inspiration, they needn’t look further than her pre-speech performance at the 2025 AMAs. As the spoken word intro to “Control” played over the speakers, Janet and her dancers hit the stage and kicked off her performance with “Someone to Call My Lover,” her sweetly come-hither 2001 single from All For You; after that, she segued into the sexy, slammin’ title track (and Hot 100 No. 1) from that album, executing some confident choreography while her dancers, wearing tank tops or little other than their tats, supported her ably.
With glitzy fountains erupting behind her, the Vegas vibes were in full effect – no surprise, considering that Jackson is in the midst of a residency at the Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas.
After thanking her staff, her management, her dancers, producers, musicians, fans and many more folks who have helped her decades-long career, Jackson left the audience with these words: “Keep God in every part of your life, because that’s where He wants to be.”
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Gwen Stefani hollered back to some of her career favorite hits at Monday night’s (May 26) 2025 American Music Awards. After an introduction from husband Blake Shelton — who called her his “one and only” — Stefani celebrated the 25th anniversary of her favorite pop/rock female artist AMA win with a three-song medley beginning with […]
Benson Boone took over the stage at the 2025 American Music Awards on Monday night (May 26) to perform his new single “Mystical Magical.” Wearing a patchwork purple suit glittering with rhinestones, the mustachioed musician kicked off his number by crooning, “There’s nothing colder than your shoulder/ When you’re dragging me along like you do, […]
After a banner breakthrough 12 months, Gracie Abrams has won new artist of the year at the 2025 American Music Awards — and she’s giving the glory right back to the people who got her there in the first place.
After Nikki Glaser read off the “That’s So True” singer as this year’s winner at the ceremony in Las Vegas (May 26), it was revealed that Abrams could not attend in person due to her ongoing global tour. The musician did, however, share a pre-taped thank-you message, which she started by saying that she was “so sad not to be in the same room as all of you tonight” before shouting out her fellow nominees — Benson Boone, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and Tommy Richman — “whose music and whose careers I admire so much.”
“The reason this means so much to me tonight is that I know this is a fan-voted award,” Abrams continued, looking casual as she addressed the camera in a blue sweatshirt. “This belongs to the community of people I’ve been lucky enough to learn from over the past few years of putting music out.”
“This belongs to you,” the Los Angeles native added. “Thank you so much for caring about the music.”
Abrams’ win comes nearly a year after she dropped her breakout album, The Secret of Us, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The Grammy nominee has since graduated from playing theater-sized venues to arenas, the likes of which she’s been performing in all over Europe, Asia and Australia this spring on her The Secret of Us Tour.
Her AMAs acceptance speech is far from the first time Abrams has made her fanbase the focal point of her successes. She’s long been cultivating a community with her listeners — dating back to when she simply posted snippets of her songs on Instagram before she ever even released anything — and in her April Billboard cover story, Abrams said that despite her career explosion this past year, everything “feels as connected as it did six years ago” when it comes to her relationship with her fans.
“I think the best use of me as a human being on this planet, at least right now, is trying to use my writing or storytelling to make as many people as possible feel connected to themselves and to this community,” she added at the time. “That is what I think I’m here for right now.”
Hosted this year by Jennifer Lopez, the AMAs are airing live on CBS as well as streaming on Paramount+. The night will also see stars taking home awards such as artist of the year, album of the year, song of the year and more, with Kendrick Lamar leading with 10 nominations.
Watch her speech below:
The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.