The Billboard Music Awards
May 2 / 2019
8 min read
Kelly Clarkson took to the stage last night hosting and performing at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. Airing live from the MGM garden arena in Las Vegas, it was a massive night for music as many musicians and A-listers filled the seats and took to the stage. The Billboard awards have been handed out annually since 1990, it is the 3rd most honorable awards ceremony for music behind the American Music Awards and the Grammys. Unlike other awards, such as the Grammy Award, which determine nominations as a result of the highest votes received by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on album and digital songs sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring, and social engagement. These stats are tracked year-round by Billboard and are taken from a full calendar year. This year’s award show met new heights with artists like Cardi B leading the categories with 21 nominations in 18 categories and Drake taking home 12 awards making him the most awarded in history with 27 total. Even though the awards were filled with top headlining artists making for great competition and TV, they quickly took a back seat to the performances that filled the show. Last nights show truly outdid themselves hosting not only major headliners but adding iconic performers like Madonna, Mariah Carey, and Paula Abdul paying tribute to the songs of their generation.
Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie brought magic to the stage as they opened the awards with the 1st televised performance of their new hit single “ME”. BTS and Halsey took the stage, leading a new K- Pop generation performing “Boy with Luv”. Madonna and Maluma debuted “Medillon” off her newest album Madame X. The show featured 4 CGI versions of herself that supposedly cost upwards of 5 million, creating major FOMO for anyone who wasn’t in attendance. This album is a new era for Madonna and after her performance last night she has us all begging for more. Ariana Grande performed “7 Rings” after being pulled from singing at the Grammys due to disagreements between her and the Academy on her set list. The Jonas Brothers surprised fans with a full-blown “JoBro” reunion performing “Sucker”, their first released song since being reunited. This was the first time the Jonas Brothers have performed together in almost 10 years but as a newly reunited band, it won’t be the last. With so many other performers including Khalid, Halsey, Dan and Shea, Lauren Daigle, and Panic at the Disco it was hard to compare them and pick who owned the night until Paula Abdul came on to close the show.
Paula Abdul, who at 56 hasn’t charted in the Top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in about 24 years, was the essential performance of the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. She had the most entertaining performance of the night using Vegas as her template, she became a true Showgirl pulling out all the stops, tap dancing, swing dancing and at one point even crowd surfing on the stage. The BBMA’s were truly a magical night for music and with so many top artists not only debuting new songs and albums but dominating their performances it turned into one hell of a show! We included some of our favorite performances from the show and the full list of winners from the awards. If you didn’t get a chance to watch the full ceremonies don’t worry the network recorded it and it is available for most users OnDemand and I would highly recommend checking it out.
Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie- “ME!”
Madonna and Maluma- “Medillon”A
Ariana Grande- “7 Rings”
Paula Abdul- Top Hits
Artist Awards
Top Artist:
Cardi B
Drake — WINNER
Ariana Grande
Post Malone
Travis Scott
Top New Artist:
Bazzi
Juice WRLD — WINNER
Lil Baby
Dua Lipa
Ella Mai
Billboard Chart Achievement Award:
Dan + Shay
Drake
Ariana Grande — WINNER
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
Dua Lipa
Top Male Artist:
Drake — WINNER
Post Malone
Travis Scott
Ed Sheeran
XXXTentacion
Top Female Artist:
Cardi B
Ariana Grande — WINNER
Halsey
Ella Mai
Taylor Swift
Top Duo/Group:
BTS — WINNER
Dan + Shay
Imagine Dragons
Maroon 5
Panic! At The Disco
Top Billboard 200 Artist:
Drake — WINNER
Ariana Grande
Post Malone
Travis Scott
XXXTentacion
Top Hot 100 Artist:
Cardi B
Drake — WINNER
Ariana Grande
Juice Wrld
Post Malone
Top Streaming Songs Artist:
Cardi B
Drake — WINNER
Ariana Grande
Post Malone
XXXTentacion
Top Song Sales Artist:
Drake — WINNER
Ariana Grande
Imagine Dragons
Lady Gaga
Post Malone
Top Radio Songs Artist:
Cardi B
Drake — WINNER
Ariana Grande
Maroon 5
Post Malone
Top Social Artist:
BTS — WINNER
EXO
GOT7
Ariana Grande
Louis Tomlinson
Top Touring Artist:
Beyoncé & JAY-Z
Bruno Mars
Ed Sheeran — WINNER
Taylor Swift
Justin Timberlake
Top R&B Artist:
H.E.R.
Khalid
Ella Mai — WINNER
The Weeknd
XXXTentacion
Top R&B Male Artist:
Khalid
The Weeknd — WINNER
XXXTentacion
Top R&B Female Artist:
H.E.R.
Ella Mai — WINNER
Queen Naija
Top R&B Tour:
Beyoncé & JAY-Z — WINNER
Childish Gambino
Bruno Mars
Top Rap Artist:
Cardi B
Drake — WINNER
Juice Wrld
Post Malone
Travis Scott
Top Rap Male Artist:
Drake — WINNER
Post Malone
Travis Scott
Top Rap Female Artist:
Cardi B — WINNER
City Girls
Nicki Minaj
Top Rap Tour:
Beyoncé & JAY-Z — WINNER
Drake
Travis Scott
Top Country Artist:
Jason Aldean
Kane Brown
Luke Combs — WINNER
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Top Country Male Artist:
Jason Aldean
Kane Brown
Luke Combs — WINNER
Top Country Female Artist:
Maren Morris
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood — WINNER
Top Country Duo/Group:
Dan + Shay — WINNER
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion
Top Country Tour:
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney — WINNER
Shania Twain
Top Rock Artist:
Imagine Dragons — WINNER
Lovelytheband
Panic! At The Disco
Queen
Twenty One Pilots
Top Rock Tour:
Elton John — WINNER
The Rolling Stones
U2
Top Latin Artist:
Anuel AA
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Ozuna — WINNER
Romeo Santos
Top Dance/Electronic Artist:
Calvin Harris
Kygo
Marshmello
Odesza
The Chainsmokers — WINNER
Top Christian Artist:
Cory Asbury
Lauren Daigle — WINNER
For King & Country
Hillsong Worship
MercyMe
Top Gospel Artist:
Kirk Franklin
Koryn Hawthorne
Tori Kelly
Tasha Cobbs Leonard — WINNER
Marvin Sapp
ALBUM AWARDS
Top Billboard 200 Album:
Cardi B “Invasion of Privacy”
Drake “Scorpion” — WINNER
Post Malone “beerbongs & bentleys”
Travis Scott “ASTROWORLD”
XXXTentacion “?”
Top Soundtrack:
“13 Reasons Why: Season 2”
“A Star is Born” by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
“The Greatest Showman” — WINNER
Top R&B Album:
Ella Mai “Ella Mai”
H.E.R. “H.E.R.”
Khalid “American Teen”
The Weeknd “My Dear Melancholy,”
XXXTentacion “17” — WINNER
Top Rap Album:
Cardi B “Invasion of Privacy”
Drake “Scorpion” — WINNER
Post Malone “beerbongs & bentleys”
Travis Scott “ASTROWORLD”
XXXTentacion “?”
Top Country Album:
Jason Aldean “Rearview Town”
Kane Brown “Kane Brown”
Luke Combs “This One’s For You” — WINNER
Dan + Shay “Dan + Shay”
Carrie Underwood “Cry Pretty”
Top Rock Album:
Dave Matthews Band “Come Tomorrow”
Imagine Dragons “Origins”
Mumford & Sons “Delta”
Panic! At This Disco “Pray For The Wicked” — WINNER
Twenty One Pilots “Trench”
Top Latin Album:
Anuel AA “Real Hasta la Muerte”
Bad Bunny “X 100PRE”
J Balvin “Vibras”
Maluma “F.A.M.E.”
Ozuna “Aura” — WINNER
Top Dance/Electronic Album:
Clean Bandit “What Is Love?”
David Guetta “7”
Kygo “Kids in Love”
Major Lazer “Major Lazer Essentials”
The Chainsmokers “Sick Boy” — WINNER
Top Christian Album:
Cory Asbury “Reckless Love”
Lauren Daigle “Look Up Child” — WINNER
For King & Country “Burn The Ships”
Hillsong Worship “There Is More”
Zach Williams “Chain Breaker”
Top Gospel Album:
Snoop Dogg & Various Artists “Snoop Dogg Presents Bible of Love”
Aretha Franklin “Gospel Greats”
Koryn Hawthorne “Unstoppable”
Tori Kelly “Hiding Place” — WINNER
Jonathan McReynolds “Make Room”
SONG AWARDS
Top Hot 100 Song:
Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin “I Like It”
Juice Wrld “Lucid Dreams”
Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B “Girls Like You” — WINNER
Post Malone “Better Now”
Travis Scott “SICKO MODE”
Top Streaming Song (Audio):
Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin “I Like It”
Juice Wrld “Lucid Dreams”
Post Malone “Better Now”
Travis Scott “SICKO MODE” — WINNER
XXXTentacion “SAD!”
Top Streaming Song (Video):
Drake “In My Feelings” — WINNER
Juice Wrld “Lucid Dreams”
Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B “Girls Like You”
Travis Scott “SICKO MODE”
XXXTentacion “SAD!”
Top Selling Song:
Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin “I Like It”
Drake “In My Feelings”
Halsey “Without Me”
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper “Shallow”
Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B “Girls Like You” — WINNER
Top Radio Song:
Khalid & Normani “Love Lies”
Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B “Girls Like You” — WINNER
Post Malone “Better Now”
Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line “Meant to Be”
Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey “The Middle”
Top Collaboration:
Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin “I Like It”
Khalid & Normani “Love Lies”
Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B “Girls Like You” — WINNER
Marshmello & Bastille “Happier”
Post Malone ft. Ty Dolla $ign “Psycho”
Top R&B Song:
DJ Khaled ft. Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper & Quavo “No Brainer”
Ella Mai “Boo’d Up” — WINNER
Ella Mai “Trip”
Khalid “Better”
Lil Dicky ft. Chris Brown “Freaky Friday”
Top Rap Song:
Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin “I Like It” — WINNER
Drake “In My Feelings”
Juice WRLD “Lucid Dreams”
Post Malone “Better Now”
Travis Scott “SICKO MODE”
Top Country Song:
Kane Brown “Heaven”
Luke Combs “She Got the Best of Me”
Dan + Shay “Speechless”
Dan + Shay “Tequila”
Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line “Meant to Be” — WINNER
Top Rock Song:
Foster The People “Sit Next to Me”
Imagine Dragons “Natural”
Imagine Dragons “Whatever It Takes”
Lovelytheband “broken”
Panic! At The Disco “High Hopes” — WINNER
Top Latin Song:
Bad Bunny ft. Drake “Mia”
Daddy Yankee “Dura”
DJ Snake ft. Selena Gomez, Ozuna & Cardi B “Taki Taki”
Nicky Jam & J Balvin “X”
Casper Magico, Nio Garcia, Darell, Nicky Jam, Bad Bunny & Ozuna “Te Bote” — WINNER
Top Dance/Electronic Song:
DJ Snake ft. Selena Gomez, Ozuna & Cardi B “Taki Taki”
Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa “One Kiss”
Marshmello & Bastille “Happier”
Tiësto & Dzeko ft. Preme & Post Malone “Jackie Chan”
Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey “The Middle” — WINNER
Top Christian Song:
Cory Asbury “Reckless Love”
Lauren Daigle “You Say” — WINNER
For King & Country “joy.”
Hillsong Worship “Who You Say I Am”
Tauren Wells “Known”
Top Gospel Song:
Todd Dulaney “Your Great Name”
Koryn Hawthorne “Won’t He Do It” — WINNER
Tori Kelly ft. Kirk Franklin “Never Alone”
Jason Nelson “Forever”
Brian Courtney Wilson “A Great Work”
