The Billboard Music Awards are honors given out annually by Billboard, a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The Billboard Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of the years 2007 through 2010. The event was previously staged in December, but has been held in May since returning in 2011. On October 19, 2023, it was announced that the award ceremony will be reformatted as a digital-only show and move from broadcast television to its website and Billboards social media pages, starting with the 2023 edition on November 19, but in 2024, the show aired on Fox.
Awards process 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 measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including MRC Data and Next Big Sound. The 2018 awards were based on the reporting period of April 8, 2017 through March 31, 2018. Awards are given for the top album, artist and single in a number of different music genres.
Awards Year Order Date Venue City Host(s) TV network 1990 1 December 10 Barker HangarSanta Monica Paul Shaffer & Morris Day with Jerome Benton Fox 1991 2 December 9Paul Shaffer 1992 3 December 8 Universal AmphitheaterLos Angeles Phil Collins 1993 4 December 8 1994 5 December 7 Dennis Miller and Heather Locklear 1995 6 December 6 New York ColiseumNew York City Jon Stewart 1996 7 December 4 Hard Rock HotelLas Vegas Chris Rock 1997 8 December 8 MGM Grand Garden Arena David Spade 1998 9 December 7 Kathy Griffin and Andy Dick 1999 10 December 8 Kathy Griffin and Adam Carolla 2000 11 December 5 Kathy Griffin and NSYNC 2001 12 December 4 Bernie Mac 2002 13 December 9 Cedric the Entertainer 2003 14 December 10 Ryan Seacrest with Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson 2004 15 December 8 Ryan Seacrest 2005 16 December 6 LL Cool J 2006 17 December 4 — colspan="9" 2011 18 May 22 MGM Grand Garden ArenaLas Vegas Ken Jeong ABC 2012 19 May 20 Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell 2013 20 May 19 Tracy Morgan 2014 21 May 18 Ludacris 2015 22 May 17 Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen 2016 23 May 22 T-Mobile Arena Ludacris and Ciara 2017 24 May 21 Ludacris and Vanessa Hudgens 2018 25 May 20 MGM Grand Garden Arena Kelly Clarkson NBC 2019 26 May 1 2020 27 October 14 Dolby TheatreLos Angeles 2021 28 May 23 Microsoft Theater Nick Jonas 2022 29 May 15 MGM Grand Garden Arena Las Vegas Sean "Diddy" Combs 2023 30 November 19 2024 31 December 12 Michelle Buteau Fox
Categories From 1990 to 2006, the show had the same categories and category names every year. In 2011, for the first time, all of the awards were renamed to "Top [award title]". The "of the year" portion of each category title no longer exists, and many of the awards have been further renamed. Other awards, including both "crossover" awards (No. 1 Classical Crossover Artist and No. 1 Classical Crossover Album) were discontinued. As of 2024, there are three fan-voted categories.
Current categories The general categories are Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Hot 100 Song and Top New Artist. These categories highlighted in each award and other categories are divided by genre.
General Top Artist Top New Artist Top Male Artist Top Female Artist Top Duo/Group Top Billboard 200 Artist Top Billboard 200 Album Top Hot 100 Artist Top Hot 100 Song Top Hot 100 Songwriter Top Hot 100 Producer Top Billboard Global 200 Artist Top Billboard Global (Excluding U.S.) Artist Top Billboard Global 200 Song Top Billboard Global (Excluding U.S.) Song Top Touring Artist Top Song Sales Artist (since 2016) Top Selling Album (since 2018) Top Selling Song (since 2016) Top Radio Songs Artist Top Radio Song Top Streaming Songs Artist Top Streaming Song (Audio) Top Streaming Song (Video)
R&B Top R&B Artist Top R&B Male Artist (since 2018) Top R&B Female Artist (since 2018) Top R&B Album Top R&B Song Top R&B Tour (since 2017)
Rap Top Rap Artist Top Rap Male Artist (since 2018) Top Rap Female Artist (since 2018) Top Rap Album Top Rap Song Top Rap Tour (since 2017)
Country Top Country Artist Top Country Male Artist (since 2018) Top Country Female Artist (since 2018) Top Country Duo/Group Artist (since 2018) Top Country Album Top Country Song Top Country Tour (since 2017)
Rock Top Rock Artist Top Rock Album Top Rock Song Top Rock Tour (since 2017)
Latin Top Latin Artist Top Latin Male Artist (since 2021) Top Latin Female Artist (since 2021) Top Latin Duo/Group (since 2021) Top Latin Album Top Latin Song Top Latin Touring Artist (since 2022)
K-Pop Top Global K-Pop Artist (since 2023) Top Global K-Pop Song (since 2023) Top K-Pop Album (since 2023) Top K-Pop Touring Artist (since 2023)
Dance/Electronic Top Dance/Electronic Artist (since 2014) Top Dance/Electronic Album (since 2014) Top Dance/Electronic Song (since 2014)
Christian Top Christian Artist Top Christian Album Top Christian Song
Gospel Top Gospel Artist (since 2016) Top Gospel Album (since 2016) Top Gospel Song (since 2016)
Others genres Top Soundtrack (1993, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2015 – present) Top Social Artist (fan-voted) Billboard Chart Achievement (since 2015, fan-voted) Top Collaboration (since 2017, fan-voted)
Retired categories (1990–2022)
Top Alternative Album Top Alternative Artist Top Alternative Song Top Classical Crossover Artist Top Classical Crossover Album Top Country Collaboration (2017) Top Dance Artist (until 2013) Top Dance Album (until 2013) Top Dance Song (until 2013) Top Digital Media Artist (until 2012) Top Digital Songs Artist (until 2015) Top Digital Song (until 2015) Top EDM Artist (until 2013) Top EDM Album (until 2013) Top EDM Song (until 2013) Top Independent Artists Top Independent Album Top Modern Rock Artist Top Modern Rock Track Top New Male Artist Top New Female Artist Top New Group/Band Top New Song Top Pop Song (until 2013) Top Pop Album (until 2013) Top Pop Artist (until 2013) Top Pop Punk Artist Top R&B Collaboration (2017) Top Rap Collaboration (2017) Top Rhythmic Top 40 Title Top Selling Single Top Soundtrack Single of the Year Milestone Award (2013, 2014)
Special awards
Artist Achievement Award 1993: Rod Stewart 1994: Whitney Houston 1995: Janet Jackson 1996: Madonna 1997: Garth Brooks 1999: Aerosmith 2001: Janet Jackson 2002: Cher 2004: Destiny's Child 2005: Kanye West
Artist of the Decade Award 1980s: Madonna 1990s: Mariah Carey 2000s: Eminem 2010s: Drake
Millennium Award
2011: Beyoncé 2012: Whitney Houston (award accepted by her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown) 2016: Britney Spears
Century Award 1992: George Harrison 1993: Buddy Guy 1994: Billy Joel 1995: Joni Mitchell 1996: Carlos Santana 1997: Chet Atkins 1998: James Taylor 1999: Emmylou Harris 2000: Randy Newman 2001: John Mellencamp 2002: Annie Lennox 2003: Sting 2004: Stevie Wonder 2005: Tom Petty 2006: Tony Bennett
Icon Award
2011: Neil Diamond 2012: Stevie Wonder 2013: Prince 2014: Jennifer Lopez 2016: Celine Dion 2017: Cher 2018: Janet Jackson 2019: Mariah Carey 2020: Garth Brooks 2021: P!nk 2022: Mary J. Blige
Spotlight Award In 2012, Katy Perry was honored with Billboard's second Spotlight award for being the second and first female artist in music history to have five consecutive number ones singles on Billboard Hot 100 from one album.
Change Maker Award 2020: Killer Mike 2021: Trae tha Truth 2022: Mari Copeny
Other special awards 1992: Special Award commemorating the 10th Anniversary of Thriller: Michael Jackson 1992: No. 1 World Album for Dangerous and No. 1 World Single for "Black or White": Michael Jackson 1993: Special Award for the first single with most weeks at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (14 weeks for "I Will Always Love You"): Whitney Houston 1996: Special Award for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (16 weeks for "One Sweet Day"): Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men 1997: Special Award honoring "Candle In the Wind 1997" as the all-time best selling single: Elton John and Bernie Taupin 1998: Special Award for the most No. 1s ever by a female artist (13): Mariah Carey 2000: Special Award for biggest one-week sales ever of an album: No Strings Attached, NSYNC 2000: Special Award for biggest one-week sales of an album ever by a female artist, Oops!... I Did It Again, Britney Spears 2001: Special Award for biggest one-week sales for an album in 2001: Celebrity, NSYNC 2002: Special Award for 1982 album Thriller, which spent more weeks at No. 1 (37) than any other album in the history of the Billboard 200: Michael Jackson 2003: Special Award for Most weeks at No. 1: Beyoncé (17 weeks with "Crazy in Love" featuring Jay-Z and "Baby Boy" featuring Sean Paul)
Most wins The record for most Billboard Music Awards won by an artist is held by Taylor Swift, earning 49 awards. The record for most Billboard Music Awards won by a group is held by BTS who have won 12 awards. Rank Artist Number of awards 1 Taylor Swift492Drake413Beyoncé284Justin Bieber265The Weeknd226Garth Brooks197Adele18Morgan WallenUsherKanye West11Eminem1712Bad Bunny16Whitney Houston14Mariah Carey 141550 Cent1316BTS12Carrie UnderwoodGeorge MichaelRihannaR.KellyT.I.22Destiny's Child11Janet JacksonMary J. BligePost Malone26Imagine Dragons10Lady Gaga
Most Wins in a single ceremony
RankArtistMost wins1Drake132Adele123Whitney Houston11
Performances + Year Performers (chronologically) 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Broadcast Since its inception (created by Rick Garson, Paul Flattery & Jim Yukich), the BMAs had been telecast on the Fox network; however due to contractual expirations and other unforeseen circumstances, the awards were cancelled for 2007. Plans for a new version of the BMAs in 2008 (in association with AEG Live) fell through and were not held until 2011.
On February 17, 2011, Billboard announced that the BMAs would return to television, moving from its original home on Fox to its new network, ABC, on May 22. A new award statuette was created by New York firm Society Awards. Dick Clark Productions, which is co-owned with Billboard, began producing the ceremony in 2014. On November 28, 2017, it was announced that the Billboard Music Awards would move from ABC to NBC beginning in 2018 under a multi-year contract.
The 2020 ceremony, originally scheduled for April 29, was postponed indefinitely on March 17 due to coronavirus-related public assembly concerns. On August 14, 2020, it was announced that the 2020 ceremony had been rescheduled to October 14.
On November 25, 2024, it was announced that the BMAs would return to Fox with a pre-recorded special on December 12. It also streamed live on Amazon Fire TV Channels and on-demand on Paramount+.
Ratings Year Day Date Network 18–49 rating Viewers(in millions) Rating Share 1990 Monday December 10 Fox 14.50 1991 December 9 11.60 1992 Wednesday December 9 15.00 1993 December 8 14.00 1994 December 7 11.10 1995 December 6 12.10 1996 December 4 11.60 1997 Monday December 8 12.81 1998 December 7 11.36 1999 Wednesday December 8 12.12 2000 Tuesday December 5 5.4 14 11.43 2001 December 4 5.6 15 11.70 2002 Monday December 9 4.3 11 9.36 2003 Wednesday December 10 4.6 12 9.81 2004 December 8 3.1 8 6.87 2005 Tuesday December 6 3.1 8 6.38 2006 Monday December 4 2.7 7 6.09 2007–2010 2011 Sunday May 22 ABC 3.0 8 7.88 2012 May 20 2.7 7 7.40 2013 May 19 3.5 10 9.48 2014 May 18 3.5 10 10.50 2015 May 17 3.8 12 11.18 2016 May 22 3.2 10 9.76 2017 May 21 2.6 9 8.70 2018 May 20 NBC 2.4 9 7.87 2019Wednesday May 1 2.1 10 8.01 2020 October 14 0.8 5 3.71 2021 Sunday May 23 0.7 4 2.77 2022 May 15 0.7 6 2.56
See also Billboard Live Music Awards Billboard Japan Music Awards Billboard Latin Music Awards Billboard Women in Music Billboard Decade-End Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards