Music News

Morgan Wallen amassed 11 Billboard Music Awards wins on Sunday (Nov. 19), which represented the greatest one-year tally by any artist since Drake received 12 awards in 2019. Taylor Swift won 10 BBMAs this year, bringing her career total to date to 39 – which puts her in a tie with Drake for the most of all time. (Drake won five awards this year to advance to that same total.)

Wallen won awards for both top Billboard 200 album (One Thing at a Time) and top Hot 100 song (“Last Night”). It’s the first time one artist has swept both of those key awards in the same year since Usher scored in 2004 with Confessions and his megahit “Yeah!” (featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris). (Note: The BBMAs were on hiatus from 2007-10.)

Wallen had previously won four BBMAs. His new career total of 15 awards puts him second only to Garth Brooks among country artists. Brooks has won 20 BBMAs.

Swift won top artist for the third time, which puts her in a tie with Drake for the most wins in that category. Swift also won top Billboard 200 artist for a record-extending sixth time, and top female artist for a record-extending fifth time.

Wallen thoroughly dominated the country categories, winning top country artist, top country album, top country song and top country tour.

Drake was equally dominant in the rap field, winning top rap artist for a record-extending fifth time, top rap tour for the second time, and top rap album (Her Loss) and top rap song (“Rich Flex”) for his successful collaboration with 21 Savage.

SZA and Zach Bryan were nearly as dominant in R&B and rock, respectively. SZA won top R&B female artist, top R&B album (SOS) and top R&B song (“Kill Bill”). But the award for top R&B touring artist went to Beyoncé.

Bryan won top rock artist, top rock album (American Heartbreak) and top rock song (“Something in the Orange”). But the award for top rock touring artist went to Coldplay.

Bryan and SZA each won four BBMAs this year. Bryan’s wins include the key category of top new artist. He was a first-time BBMAs winner. SZA had won two BBMAs previously.

21 Savage, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus each won three awards. This brings Beyoncé’s total to 16, which puts her in a tie with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey for the most BBMAs by a woman of color. Carey won a special Chart Achievement Award this year for the historic success of her single “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 every year from 2019 through 2022, and may return to the top spot this year as well.

Beyoncé and Bad Bunny nearly swept the top awards in their fields. Beyoncé won top dance/electronic artist and album (Renaissance), but the award for top dance/electronic song went to David Guetta and Bebe Rexha for “I’m Good (Blue).”

Bunny won top Latin artist for the fourth consecutive year and top Latin album for the third time in four years (Un Verano Sin Ti), but Eslabon Armado x Peso Pluma won top Latin song for “Ella Baila Sola.”

Fuerza Regida, KAROL G and The Weeknd each won two awards. Fuerza Regida won the all-genre top duo/group award over Eslabon Armado, Fifty Fifty, Grupo Frontera and Metallica. Impressively, three of these five groups come from the Latin music world.

The Weeknd’s two awards bring his career total to 22, which puts him in fourth place on the all-time BBMAs leaderboard, behind Drake and Swift with 39 each and Justin Bieber with 26. Garth Brooks is in fifth place all-time, with 20, followed by Adele, Usher and Kanye West, with 18 each.

Ye, as West is now known, won one award this year – top gospel artist. This is his fourth consecutive win in that category, which extends his record as the category leader. Kirk Franklin and Tasha Cobbs Leonard have each won twice in the category.

Lauren Daigle won top Christian artist for a record-extending fourth time.

Luke Combs was a finalist in 10 categories, but didn’t receive any BBMAs. He went up against the unstoppable Wallen in eight of those categories. Ariana Grande was a finalist in five categories and likewise didn’t win any. She lost to the red-hot Cyrus in three of those categories.

Metallica is the only rock group to be a finalist for the overall top duo/group award. So, one might logically expect them to win top rock/duo group. They lost to Arctic Monkeys. How can that be? These two awards measure success on different charts. The overall top duo/group award is based on performance on the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200. The top rock duo/group award is based on performance on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs and Top Rock Albums charts.

Harry Styles’ “As It Was” was a finalist for top BB global (excl. U.S.) song. The song was released on April 1, 2022, seven months before the beginning of this year’s eligibility tracking period (Nov. 4, 2022 through Oct. 12, 2023). It’s remarkable that the song still had enough firepower to be a finalist when its first seven months of activity weren’t counted. You already knew the song was a monster hit. Here’s more proof.

The 2023 Billboard Music Awards Presented by Marriott Bonvoy took place Sunday night on BBMAs.watch and across BBMA and Billboard social channels.

On Sunday night (Nov. 19), Taylor Swift added to her already-impressive career win total at the Billboard Music Awards with 10 brand-new wins — and she’s thanking the Swifties for making it all happen.

“Well this is unreal,” she said in her acceptance speech, shot backstage at her blockbuster Eras Tour. “The fact that you guys have given me 10 Billboard Awards — I’m talking to the fans specifically. None of this happens without you. The Billboards base everything off of what you are listening to and what you’re passionate about, and I’m so honored that this year you made The Eras Tour so magical. You went and saw the movie, you cared about my re-recordings. I just love you so much.

“I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have you in my corner and caring about the music that I make,” she concluded. “So thank you — thank you, thank you, thank you 10 million times — for this.”

Swift was the biggest female winner of the night, and second only to Morgan Wallen’s 11 wins for overall leader. But when it comes to historic wins, Swift’s 10 new prizes plus Drake’s five new prizes put the superstar artists in a tie for the all-time winningest artists at the Billboard Music Awards with 39 awards apiece.

On Sunday night, Swift was victorious in these 10 categories: top artist, top female artist, top Billboard 200 artist, top Hot 100 songwriter, top Radio Songs artist, top Song Sales artist, top Billboard Global 200 artist, top Billboard Global Excl. U.S. artist, top country female artist, and top selling song for “Anti-Hero.”

Heading into Sunday’s show — which was presented by Marriott Bonvoy — Swift was the leading finalist, with nods in 20 categories.

Swift is currently on the international leg of her Eras Tour, performing shows Sunday night and a makeup show Monday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before heading across the country to São Paulo next weekend.

Stray Kids is on fire — literally. This year, the group sent its album 5-Star to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has become one of the hottest K-pop groups on the scene, appearing at Lollapalooza and the VMAs — and now, the 2023 Billboard Music Awards Presented by Marriott Bonvoy.

The group — which consists of members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N — delivered a pyrotechnics-filled performance of singles “S-Class” and “LALALALA” for their BBMAs debut on Sunday (Nov. 19). The showcase kicked off with “S-Class,” which saw the K-pop idols wearing military-inspired ensembles as they hit the track’s viral choreography.

A few members had their chance to shine during the performance’s transition moment into “LALALALA,” with Hyunjin stepping up to the plate for an energetic solo dance break complete with a fleet of background dancers. Bang Chan hinted at the larger than life set design before expertly hitting intricate dance moves alongside Changbin and Felix, the latter of whom grabbed the camera to take the boys up to a white elevated stage, where they all continued into “LALALALA.”

Stray Kids’ performance wasn’t the only highlight of the group’s evening. The K-pop stars also took home the top K-pop album award for 5-Star. The set was up against finalists FACE by BTS’ Jimin, 2nd EP ‘Get Up’ by NewJeans, The Name Chapter: Temptation by TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Ready to Be by TWICE.

5-Star crowned the Billboard 200 in June and spent a total of 16 weeks on the chart. While accepting the award, the group made sure to thank its devoted fans, STAY, for their unwavering support throughout the years.

“We would like to thank all of our STAYs and all the Stray Kids everywhere all around the world. Without the love and support from everyone, we would probably not have made it this far, and if wasn’t for the people that have been running by our side this whole time, the music that we create would not have been able to reach the people in need,” Bang Chan said on behalf of the group. “So us, Stray Kids, would like to say thank you to STAY and Billboard for giving us an unforgettable gift. We promise to return the favor with our upcoming music, performances and love.”

Changbin delivered the rest of the group’s acceptance speech in Korean and stated that winning the award was a result of the “tremendous love that STAY has shown us.” He continued, “Thank you for loving the albums, music and performances that shows our group’s unwavering color. We have a lot in store, so please keep an eye out for us and all of the amazing things that we have ready.”

Watch Stray Kids’ performance of “S-Class” and “LALALALA” at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards Presented by Marriott Bonvoy above, as well as the group’s top K-pop album acceptance speech below.

With just a year since the girl group’s formal debut, NewJeans has made waves across the K-pop industry, social media and on the Billboard charts. And on Sunday (Nov. 19), the quintet — which consists of members Danielle, Haerin, Hyein, Hanni and Minji — performed their viral hits “Super Shy” and “OMG” at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards.

The performance kicked off with the girls dressed in stylish schoolgirl ensembles, dancing in solo booths to electronic music. NewJeans then stepped onto the stage with a fleet of backup dancers to perform “Super Shy” and its viral choreography, hitting every step flawlessly as the Bunnies (their fans) in the audience sang the official fan chant at the appropriate times during the track.

After the song, the quintet did a quick change into new outfits for “OMG,” which consisted of oversized snow boots, oversized angel-themed sweaters, skirts and printed beanies for the dreamy set, with white grid walls and cloudlike figures around them. The track’s instrumental received a funky remix, and saw the girls dancing in unison for the feel-good dance moves, taking small moments during the showcase to wave at the Bunnies in the crowd.

NewJeans topped off the evening by winning the new top global K-pop artist award, beating out Stray Kids, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, TWICE and Jimin of BTS.

“Thank you so much for giving us the top global K-pop artist award,” Hyein started off the speech. Hanni continued, “We have been nominated in this category alongside such incredible artists we look up to. It’s an honor in itself. We are so grateful for this opportunity to perform at the Billboard Music Awards.”

Minji also stated the importance of the honor and noted that it will serve as “a reminder to us of all the love and support we receive from our fans Bunnies.”

Danielle extended grace to NewJeans’ company for putting the group on their journey, as well as a few special others within their circle. “We would like to thank our company ADOR, our family and everyone who has helped us behind the scenes, especially our producer Min Hee Jin,” she said, with Haerin adding a sweet shoutout to the Bunnies. “Words cannot convey how grateful we are, but we hope that one day we can bring you as much happiness as you’ve given us.”

NewJeans’ performance comes months after the group scored its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with Get Up, released in July. “Super Shy” peaked at No. 48 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “ETA” and “Cool With You” — also from the EP — peaked at Nos. 81 and 93 respectively. Though not on the EP, “OMG” arrived in January and reached No. 74.

Watch NewJeans’ performance of “Super Shy” and “OMG” at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards Presented by Marriott Bonvoy, as well as the group’s top global K-pop artist acceptance speech in the videos below.

Bebe Rexha and David Guetta were all good at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (Nov. 19), as they teamed up to perform their massive dance hit “I’m Good (Blue).”

Dressed in a stunning form-fitting gown, Rexha opened the performance with a slowed-down, orchestral version of the track. However, midway through the performance, the beat dropped and headed back into the club-ready melody.

Fans in the audience were chosen in a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the BBMAs and Spotify Fans First, who teamed up to identify fans who have consumed the most hours of music over the past year and helped drive their favorite artists to the top spots on the Billboard charts.

“I’m Good (Blue)” — which was a finalist for three BBMAs at Sunday’s show and took home the prize for top dance/electronic song — spent 55 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. (Only one song in the chart’s nearly 11-year history has had a longer run at No. 1; “Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille topped the chart for 69 weeks.)

“I want to say thank you so much to Billboard, thank you to my fans — come on, Rexhars! Stand up, let’s go!” Rexha said in her acceptance speech, adding what an “incredible journey” the song had taken. “We did it in 2017 and we didn’t think it was going to become such a worldwide anthem. We wanted to just flip a fun song from back in the day and just make it feel good. I just can’t believe how far this song has gone. Fifty-two weeks at No. 1, OK? I grew up watching Billboard and to be here right now is such an awesome, full-circle moment.”

Rexha then tossed to Guetta, who sent in a video acceptance speech. “The story of ‘I’m Good’ is actually crazy, because we were just jamming in the studio four years ago, and we didn’t want to put it out, really. I just played it as a tool in my DJ set, and someone sampled it. And it all started with TikTok, because someone used it as a TikTok sound. Now here we are: A full year at No. 1 on Billboard. This is really incredible.”

Rexha and Guetta are both past Billboard Music Awards winners. “Meant to Be,” Rexha’s collab with Florida Georgia Line, won four years ago for top country song, while Guetta was named top EDM artist in 2013.

Watch Bebe Rexha and David Guetta perform “I’m Good (Blue)” above, and the acceptance speech below.