Olivia Rodrigo, little-known just a year ago, is the leading contender for the 2021 American Music Awards. The 18-year old star is nominated for seven awards, one more than The Weeknd. Bad Bunny, Doja Cat and Giveon each received five nods.
Taylor Swift extended her record in the artist of the year category by receiving her eighth nomination. Drake received his fifth nod in that category. Ariana Grande and The Weeknd each nabbed their fourth. BTS and Rodrigo each received their first.
Swift is the current record-holder for most artist of the year wins with six. She also holds the record for most AMA wins overall — 32.
The AMAs added three new categories this year: favorite trending song (with nominees from TikTok on the year’s most viral songs), favorite gospel artist (to go along with the returning favorite inspirational artist) and favorite Latin duo or group.
With this year’s continued expansion of the Latin field, there are now as many awards for Latin (five) as there are for pop and country. That’s remarkable because there weren’t any categories for Latin at the American Music Awards until 1998, when Julio Iglesias took the first award for favorite Latin artist.
This year, there are four awards each for hip-hop and R&B and one each for rock, inspirational, gospel and dance/electronic.
Three categories that were on last year’s nominations list are MIA on this year’s list: favorite social artist (won last year by BTS), favorite artist – adult contemporary (won last year by Jonas Brothers), and favorite soundtrack (won last year by Birds of Prey: The Album).
The AMAs streamlined the names of numerous genres in their category structure. Pop/rock is now just pop; rap/hip-hop is now just hip-hop; soul/R&B is now just R&B; alternative rock is now just rock; contemporary inspirational is now just inspirational; and electronic dance music (EDM) is now dance/electronic.
Morgan Wallen received two nods: favorite country album for Dangerous: The Double Album and favorite male country artist. But a statement on behalf of MRC Live & Alternative notes: “Morgan Wallen is a nominee this year based on charting. As his conduct does not align with our core values, we will not be including him on the show in any capacity (performing, presenting, accepting). We plan to evaluate his progress in doing meaningful work as an ally to the Black community and will consider his participation in future shows.”
The nominations announcement kicked off Thursday (Oct. 28) with reveals on ABC’s Good Morning America and Spotify’s morning show The Get Up, with the remaining nominees announced via the AMAs Twitter account.
Nominees are based on key fan interactions — as reflected on the Billboard charts — including streaming, album sales, song sales and radio airplay. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partner MRC Data, and cover the time period Sept. 25, 2020, through Sept. 23, 2021.
Voting for all awards is now open. This year, for the first time, fans can vote for all AMA categories on TikTok by searching for AMAs in-app. Fans can vote once per category per day.
The American Music Awards bill themselves as the world’s largest fan-voted awards show.
The show will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and stream next day on Hulu. The show will air globally across a footprint of linear and digital platforms in more than 120 countries and territories.
MRC Live & Alternative and Jesse Collins Entertainment are producing the show.
Tickets are now on sale now at AXS.com.
Here’s the complete list of 2021 American Music Awards nominees:
Artist of the year:
Ariana Grande
BTS
Drake
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd
New artist of the year:
24kGoldn
Giveon
Masked Wolf
Olivia Rodrigo
The Kid LAROI
Collaboration of the year:
24kGoldn ft. iann dior, “Mood”
Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez, “DÁKITI”
Chris Brown & Young Thug, “Go Crazy”
Doja Cat ft. SZA, “Kiss Me More”
Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar & Giveon, “Peaches”
Favorite trending song:
Erica Banks, “Buss It”
Måneskin, “Beggin’”
Megan Thee Stallion, “Body”
Olivia Rodrigo, “drivers license”
Popp Hunna, “Adderall (Corvette Corvette)”
Favorite music video:
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak), “Leave the Door Open”
Cardi B, “Up”
Lil Nas X, “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”
Olivia Rodrigo, “drivers license”
The Weeknd, “Save Your Tears”
Favorite male pop artist:
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Justin Bieber
Lil Nas X
The Weeknd
Favorite female pop artist:
Ariana Grande
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
Favorite pop duo or group:
AJR
BTS
Glass Animals
Maroon 5
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak)
Favorite pop album:
Ariana Grande, Positions
Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Olivia Rodrigo, SOUR
Taylor Swift, evermore
The Kid LAROI, F*CK LOVE
Favorite pop song:
BTS, “Butter”
Doja Cat ft. SZA, “Kiss Me More”
Dua Lipa, “Levitating”
Olivia Rodrigo, “drivers license”
The Weeknd & Ariana Grande, “Save Your Tears (Remix)”
Favorite male country artist:
Chris Stapleton
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Favorite female country artist:
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kacey Musgraves
Maren Morris
Miranda Lambert
Favorite country duo or group:
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Lady A
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
Favorite country album:
Chris Stapleton, Starting Over
Gabby Barrett, Goldmine
Lee Brice, Hey World
Luke Bryan, Born Here Live Here Die Here
Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
Favorite country song:
Chris Stapleton, “Starting Over”
Chris Young & Kane Brown, “Famous Friends”
Gabby Barrett, “The Good Ones”
Luke Combs, “Forever After All”
Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like”
Favorite male hip-hop artist:
Drake
Lil Baby
Moneybagg Yo
Polo G
Pop Smoke
Favorite female hip-hop artist:
Cardi B
Coi Leray
Erica Banks
Megan Thee Stallion
Saweetie
Favorite hip-hop album:
Drake, Certified Lover Boy
Juice WRLD, Legends Never Die
Megan Thee Stallion, Good News
Pop Smoke, Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon
Rod Wave, SoulFly
Favorite hip-hop song:
Cardi B, “Up”
Internet Money ft. Gunna, Don Toliver & NAV, “Lemonade”
Lil Tjay ft. 6LACK, “Calling My Phone”
Polo G, “RAPSTAR”
Pop Smoke, “What You Know Bout Love”
Favorite male R&B artist:
Chris Brown
Giveon
Tank
The Weeknd
Usher
Favorite female R&B artist:
Doja Cat
H.E.R.
Jazmine Sullivan
Jhené Aiko
SZA
Favorite R&B album:
Doja Cat, Planet Her
Giveon, When It’s All Said and Done… Take Time
H.E.R., Back of My Mind
Jazmine Sullivan, Heaux Tales
Queen Naija, missunderstood
Favorite R&B song:
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak), “Leave the Door Open”
Chris Brown & Young Thug, “Go Crazy”
Giveon, “Heartbreak Anniversary”
H.E.R., “Damage”
Jazmine Sullivan, “Pick Up Your Feelings”
Favorite male Latin artist:
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Maluma
Ozuna
Rauw Alejandro
Favorite female Latin artist:
Becky G
Kali Uchis
KAROL G
Natti Natasha
ROSALÍA
Favorite Latin duo or group:
Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga
Calibre 50
Eslabon Armado
La Arrolladora Banda El Limón De Rene Camacho
Los Dos Carnales
Favorite Latin album:
Bad Bunny, El Último Tour Del Mundo
Kali Uchis, Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)
KAROL G, KG0516
Maluma, Papi Juancho
Rauw Alejandro, Afrodisíaco
Favorite Latin song:
Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez, “DÁKITI”
Bad Bunny x ROSALÍA, “LA NOCHE DE ANOCHE”
Farruko, “Pepas”
Kali Uchis, “telepatía”
Maluma & The Weeknd, “Hawái (Remix)”
Favorite rock artist:
AJR
All Time Low
Foo Fighters
Glass Animals
Machine Gun Kelly
Favorite inspirational artist:
CAIN
Carrie Underwood
Elevation Worship
Lauren Daigle
Zach Williams
Favorite gospel artist:
Kanye West
Kirk Franklin
Koryn Hawthorne
Maverick City Music
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Favorite dance/electronic artist:
David Guetta
ILLENIUM
Marshmello
Regard
Tiësto
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