Cardi B made her hosting debut at the 2021 American Music Awards on Sunday night.
Led by the 29-year-old rapper, the awards night took place on Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Kicking off the event, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak – aka Silk Sonic – performed their hit Smokin Out the Window, later taking home the Favorite R&B Song award for their track Leave the Door Open.
Six-time nominee Olivia Rodrigo performed an acoustic version of her song Traitor and took home the coveted New Artist of the Year prize. Nineties boy bands New Edition and New Kids on the Block faced off in an old-fashioned battle of the bands, performing Candy Girl and Is This the End as well as Step by Step and Hangin' Tough, respectively.
K-pop boy band BTS performed their hit Butter without Megan Thee Stallion, who pulled out of the awards show due to personal reasons, before being joined by Coldplay to sing their collaboration My Universe. The seven-piece band were the big winners on the night, winning three awards - Artist of the Year, Favorite Pop Duo or Group, and Favorite Pop Song for Butter.
Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion also took home three prizes each. Doja won Favorite Female R&B Artist; Collaboration of the Year for Kiss Me More with SZA, and Favorite R&B Album for Planet Her, while Megan landed wins for Favorite Trending Song for Body; Favorite Female Hip-Hop Artist; Favorite Hip-Hop Album for Good News.
The full list of winners is as follows -
Artist of the Year – BTS
New Artist of the Year – Olivia Rodrigo
Collaboration of the Year – Doja Cat ft. SZA, Kiss Me More
Favorite Trending Song – Megan Thee Stallion, Body
Favorite Music Video – Lil Nas X, Montero (Call Me By Your Name)
Favorite Male Pop Artist – Ed Sheeran
Favorite Female Pop Artist – Taylor Swift
Favorite Pop Duo or Group – BTS
Favorite Pop Album – Taylor Swift, Evermore
Favorite Pop Song – BTS, Butter
Favorite Male Country Artist – Luke Bryan
Favorite Female Country Artist – Carrie Underwood
Favorite Country Duo or Group – Dan + Shay
Favorite Country Album – Gabby Barrett, Goldmine
Favorite Country Song – Chris Stapleton, Starting Over
Favorite Male Hip-Hop Artist – Drake
Favorite Female Hip-Hop Artist – Megan Thee Stallion
Favorite Hip-Hop Album – Megan Thee Stallion, Good News
Favorite Hip-Hop Song – Cardi B, Up
Favorite Male R&B Artist – The Weeknd
Favorite Female R&B Artist – Doja Cat
Favorite R&B Album – Doja Cat, Planet Her
Favorite R&B Song – Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak), Leave The Door Open
Favorite Male Latin Artist – Bad Bunny
Favorite Female Latin Artist – Becky G
Favorite Latin Duo or Group – Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga
Favorite Latin Album – Bad Bunny, EL ÚLTIMO TOUR DEL MUNDO
Favorite Latin Song – Kali Uchis, telepatía
Favorite Rock Artist – Machine Gun Kelly
Favorite Inspirational Artist – Carrie Underwood
Favorite Gospel Artist – Kanye West
Favorite Dance/Electronic Artist – Marshmello.
