AMAs 2021: BTS dominate star-studded awards ceremony hosted by Cardi B
Olivia Rodrigo, Bad Bunny and Machine Gun Kelly also among the night’s winners
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The American Music Awards took place tonight (Sunday 21 November) at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles.
BTS dominated the night, picking up several awards and performing live. Host Cardi B also introduced performances from the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, BTS, Italian rock band Maneskin, and Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak’s collaborative project, Silk Sonic.
Cardi herself took home the award for Favourite Hip-Hop Song, while Rodrigo received the Best New Artist Award.
BTS triumphed with two of the top prizes: Artist of the Year and Favourite Pop Song (”Butter”).
Contrary to other awards shows – in which a jury of industry figures decides winners – the honourees at the American Music Awards were chosen entirely based on votes by fans.
Read more:
The liveblog is now closed
Stars turn up to the AMAs red carpet
J Lo is here! And a whole heap of other stars
Megan Thee Stallion drops out of AMAs due to ‘unexpected personal matter'
Megan Thee Stallion will no longer perform at the American Music Awards due to an “unexpected personal matter”.
The “Hot Girl Summer” rapper had been due to perform alongside BTS at Sunday (21 November) night’s awards show with a rendition of their hit song “Butter”.
However on Saturday (20 November), Megan tweeted that she would no longer be joining the K-pop group for the performance.
“Hotties I was so excited to go to the @AMAs and perform with @BTS_official, but due to an unexpected personal matter, I can no longer attend,” she wrote, adding that she was “so sad” to be missing the show.
“I really can’t wait to hit the stage with my guys and perform #BTS_Butter real soon,” she added.
Full story here.
The best-dressed celebrities on the AMAs 2021 red carpet
My colleague Chelsea has been watching the celebrities arriving on the red carpet, and picking out the most brilliant and daring outfits...
The best-dressed celebrities at the 2021 AMAs
Celebrities including The Weeknd and Olivia Rodrigo are nominated for awards at this year’s ceremony
The full list of nominations for the 2021 AMAs
The 2021 American Music Awards, hosted by Cardi B this year, will take place tonight at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles.
Nominations for the awards ceremony were announced last month, placing Olivia Rodrigo in the lead with a total of seven nominations.
Contrary to other awards shows where a jury of industry figures decides the winners, at the American Music Awards, these are picked entirely based on votes by fans.
Here is the full list of nominations:
The nominations in full for the 2021 AMAs
Olivia Rodrigo is in the lead with a total of seven nominations
Queen Cardi B: the people’s pop culture icon
The stripper-turned-rapper has become one of the most recognisable cultural figures of the past 10 years thanks to her hits and hilarious social media presence. As she steps up to host the AMAs, Annabel Nugent explores why she’s so watchable
Queen Cardi B: the people’s pop culture icon
The stripper-turned-rapper has become one of the most recognisable cultural figures of the past 10 years thanks to her hits and hilarious social media presence. As she steps up to host the AMAs, Annabel Nugent explores why she’s so watchable
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak open AMAs 2021
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak have kicked things off tonight with a suitably smooth rendition of “Smokin Out The Window” from their collaborative Silk Sonic project.
Bad Bunny wins Favourite Latin Album
After a brief introduction from Cardi B, during which the mention of BTS draws a huge reaction from the crowd, actor Billy Porter presents the award for Favourite Latin Album to Bad Bunny for his record El Último Tour Del Mundo.
Machine Gun Kelly wins Favourite Rock Artist
West Side Story co-stars Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler present the award for Favourite Rock Artist to Machine Gun Kelly. He’s all smiles collecting the prize, which he dedicates to aspiring musicians: “Not just the rock artists, but all the artists who are rock stars.” He adds in closing: “I read a headline that said the age of the rock star is dead, but it looks pretty alive to me!”
Coldplay and BTS drive fans wild with live performance of ‘My Universe’
The sight of Chris Martin joining forces with BTS sends the audience into a fever pitch of excitement that rivals the delirium of Beatlemania. There are fireworks too, but it’s BTS who provide the pyrotechnics.
BTS wins Favourite Pop Duo or Group
An ebullient JoJo Siwa, who is currently appearing in Dancing With The Stars, presents the award for Favourite Pop Duo or Group to BTS. They take the opportunity to pay tribute to their fans, who are in full voice celebrating the win: “All we want to do is spread love through music and performance, but without you guys, the Army, we could have never done nothing.”
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