Taylor Swift wins top prize, the Weeknd dominates AMAs – Entertainment News

Taylor Swift won her third consecutive Artist of the Year award at the American Music Awards, but she missed the show for good reason: she said she was in the process of re-recording the masters of her songs after her catalog was out. sold.

In a video that aired at Sunday’s awards ceremony, the pop star said: “The reason I’m not here tonight is that I’m actually re-recording all my old music in the studio where we originally recorded it. So it was great. And I can’t wait for you to hear it. “

Last year, music manager Scooter Braun – who manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande – announced that his company in Ithaca Holdings had acquired the Big Machine Label Group, home of Swift’s first six albums. This month, Braun said he sold the master rights to Swift’s first six albums to an investment company; Swift acknowledged the sale on social media, saying she wouldn’t work with the new buyers because Braun was still involved.

Instead, she started re-recording her albums.

Swift defeated Bieber, Post Malone and Roddy Ricch to win the top prize. She also won Favorite Music Video and Favorite Female Pop / Rock Artist.

The Weeknd lost Artist of the Year, but he still started his all-star week as a big winner: days before he was expected to garner multiple Grammy nominations, the pop star dominated the 2020 American Music Awards with multiple wins.

The 30-year-old won his favorite soul / R & B artist, favorite soul / R & B album for “After Hours” on Sunday and favorite soul / R & B song for “Heartless” on Sunday, two days before the show. 2021 Grammy nominations to be announced.

“The last time I received this award, it was presented to me by the late, great Prince,” he said after winning favorite soul / R & B album. “And you know, he is the reason I like the genre of R&B and yes, I would like to dedicate this to him,” he said.

The Weeknd didn’t break character during the three-hour show with his gauze-wrapped face, which matched the mood of his recent album and music videos in which he appears bloody and bruised. He received his awards and performed with his face wrapped in gauze.

Kenny G joined the Weeknd for his performance and played saxophone in downtown Los Angeles while the Weeknd walked across a bridge and sang “In Your Eyes.” He completed the performance singing ‘Save Your Tears’.

The Weeknd was one of several performers to perform live at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for the fan-chosen awards show. Others recently recorded their performances due to the coronavirus pandemic, although host Taraji P. Henson – who appeared live from the venue – said the few spectators sitting on the mezzanine floor were practicing social detachment, wearing masks and on the virus were tested.

Henson joked that there were A-list celebrities in the audience, including Beyoncé, even though the cardboard cutout of the singer, Jay-Z and other stars appeared in the seats.

But there were quite a few card toppers in the building. Breakthrough singer-rapper Doja Cat performed and won multiple accolades, including New Artist of the Year and Favorite Soul / R & B Female Artist. Grammy-winning country duo Dan + Shay performed ‘I Should Probably Go to Bed’ beautifully and won Collaboration of the Year and Best Country Song for ‘10,000 Hours, ‘both shared with Bieber. And Megan Thee Stallion – won the favorite rap / hip-hop songs for “WAP” with Cardi B – performed “Body” from her recently released debut album “Good News”.

Bieber and Shawn Mendes kicked off the AMAs with a pre-recorded performance of their new duet ‘Monster,’ the first time they performed the song together. It started with a stripped-down Bieber singing his recent hit ‘Lonely’, with songwriter producer Benny Blanco on piano, and ‘Holy’, where masked backing dancers joined him.

Mendes, strumming his guitar, then appeared for ‘Monster’, in which the twenties sang lyrics about fame and growing up as celebrities that attracted massive public attention. Mendes later sang his song ‘Wonder’ during the show, which aired on ABC.

Katy Perry gave a strong performance of the emotional and hopeful song ‘Only Love’ in her first performance since the birth of her first child, with a surprising guest appearance from Darius Rucker, who sang and played guitar. With flaming red lights behind her, Billie Eilish sang her new song “Therefore I Am” while her brother songwriter producer Finneas supported her on guitar. Jennifer Lopez and Maluma teamed up to perform their new songs’ Pa ‘Ti’ and ‘Lonely’ from the movie ‘Marry Me’, in which they both play, while Dua Lipa – who won the favorite pop / rock song – floated in the air during her performance of ‘Levitating’.

24kGoldn and Iann Dior – who currently hold the number 1 song in the country with the big hit “Mood”, also performed. The multi-genre track is the rare track to reach number 1 on both the rap and rock charts.

Other artists included BTS, Bad Bunny, Lewis Capaldi, Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Baby, Bell Biv DeVoe and Nelly, who performed hits from his diamond-certified debut album “Country Grammar,” which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

This year, the AMAs, which typically award one Latin award, launched more categories in the genre. Becky G – who burst onto the music scene in 2014 with the pop hit “Shower” but recently had success singing in Spanish and launching hits on the Latin charts – won the favorite Latin female artist.

She used her speech to honor immigrant families.

“I proudly wave both flags, Mexican and American. And like many, many children and grandchildren of immigrants, no matter where they come from, we have learned from those before us what sacrifice and hard work are like, “she said.” And I dedicate this award to all of our immigrants. workers in this pandemic; the students and immigrant families. It is because of my family, my abuelitos, that I am here today. “

Nominees for the AMAs were based on streaming, album and digital sales, radio broadcasts and social activity, and reflect the period from September 27, 2019 to September 24, 2020.