Taylor Swift proudly declared that her record-breaking Billboard Music Awards triumph was ‘the nicest early birthday present you could have given me.’
She won a whopping 10 of the 17 honors she was nominated for at the show, setting a record for the most all-time Billboard Music Award wins with 49 total.
The global superstar, who turned 35 on Friday, delivered her acceptance speech remotely Thursday night just hours after visiting a Kansas City children’s hospital.
‘It means the world to me that you guys have embraced the things I have made,’ said the songstress, who also claimed the prize for Top Billboard 200 Album for her latest release The Tortured Poets Department.
Swift expressed gratitude for her fans, noting that Billboard was ‘counting what you listen to,’ and that consequently ‘I count these as like fan-voted awards because you guys are the ones who care about our albums and come see us in concert.’
She gushed that the 10 honors were ‘the nicest early birthday present you could have given me … it’s exactly what I wanted.’
The superstar songstress added, ‘Thank you to the Billboard Awards. Thank you to the fans, because Billboard is counting your stuff. They’re counting what you listen to, the albums that you’re passionate about, so I count these as like fan-voted awards because you guys are the ones who care about our albums and come see us in concert.
‘And everything that’s happened with The Eras Tour and the Tortured Poets Department, I just have to say thank you.’
Dua Lipa led off the 31st Billboard Music Awards winning the honors for Top Dance/Electronic Song for Houdini on Thursday night, with Michelle Buteau as hosting from the W Hollywood hotel.
‘Wow, this is so cool,’ Dua Lipa, 31, said in her acceptance speech from a remote location, as she was unable to attend due to touring obligations. ‘Thank you so much. Thank you for all the love and the support and for dancing with me to Houdini.
‘It means the world to me. I’m so sorry I can’t be there with you guys tonight.’
The London-born songstress, who was also nominated in the category for her single Illusion, said, ‘I’m currently on tour in Asia during the Radical Optimism tour … but I’ll be in a city close to you very soon. So come down, let’s carry on dancing. Lots of love.’
Tommy Richman was the next winner named, as he took home the honors for Top R&B Male Artist and Top R&B Song for Million Dollar Baby.
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Richman, 24, said in accepting the honors, ‘I’d like to thank my mom. I’d like to thank my friends … everybody who’s helped me along the way. And rest in peace, my cat Zoe, RIP, and just everybody – thank you.’
Richman said his success on the charts throughout 2024 came as an unexpected surprise.
‘It’s not how I thought it would play out, but how this year played out, it was great,’ Richman said. ‘I feel like I learned a lot from the universe, and I learned for better, for worse, but I’m gonna end this year with my head held high, for sure.’
Fuerza Regida was named the winner in the categories for Top Duo/Group & Top Latin Duo/Group
The group’s frontman Jesús Ortíz Paz, 27, said in their acceptance speech, ‘Hey, what’s up everybody? Hey, first of all, we want to thank all the fans.
‘Thank you guys very much, we really appreciate you guys. You know, we’re making history together.
He continued: ‘We’re making history together. We’re the best group right now in the world.
‘Thank you guys very much. And I want to thank my record label Street Mile Records. Thank you very much. Lets go.’
Taylor Swift “The Tortured Poets Department” (WINNER)
Top Soundtrack
“Trolls: Band Together” (WINNER)
Top R&B Album
Chris Brown “11:11” (WINNER)
Top Rap Album
Drake “For All the Dogs” (WINNER)
Top Country Album
Zach Bryan “Zach Bryan” (WINNER)
Top Rock Album
Noah Kahan “Stick Season” (WINNER)
Top Hard Rock Album
Sleep Token “Take Me Back To Eden” (WINNER)
Top Latin Album
KAROL G “MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO (BICHOTA SEASON)”
Top K-Pop Album
Jung Kook “GOLDEN” (WINNER)
Top Dance/Electronic Album
Charli XCX “BRAT” (WINNER)
Top Christian Album
Elevation Worship “CAN YOU IMAGINE?” (WINNER)
Top Gospel Album
Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore & Naomi Raine “The Maverick Way Complete: Complete Vol 02” (WINNER)
SONG AWARDS
Top Hot 100 Song
Teddy Swims “Lose Control” (WINNER)
Top Streaming Song
Zach Bryan ft. Kacey Musgraves “I Remember Everything” (WINNER)
Top Radio Song
Teddy Swims “Lose Control” (WINNER)
Top Selling Song
Shaboozey “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (WINNER)
Top Collaboration
Post Malone ft. Morgan Wallen “I Had Some Help” (WINNER)
Top Billboard Global 200 Song
Benson Boone “Beautiful Things” (WINNER)
Top Billboard Global (Excl. U.S.) Song
Benson Boone “Beautiful Things” (WINNER)
Top R&B Song
Tommy Richman “MILLION DOLLAR BABY” (WINNER)
Top Rap Song
Kendrick Lamar “Not Like Us” (WINNER)
Top Country Song
Shaboozey “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (WINNER)
Top Rock Song
Zach Bryan ft. Kacey Musgraves “I Remember Everything” (WINNER)
Top Hard Rock Song
Falling In Reverse ft. Jelly Roll “All My Life” (WINNER)
Top Latin Song
FloyyMenor & Cris MJ “Gata Only” (WINNER)
Top Global K-Pop Song
Jung Kook “Standing Next to You” (WINNER)
Top Afrobeats Song
Tyla “Water” (WINNER)
Top Dance/Electronic Song
Dua Lipa “Houdini” (WINNER)
Top Christian Song
Elevation Worship ft. Brandon Lake, Chris Brown & Chandler Moore “Praise” (WINNER)
Top Gospel Song
CeCe Winans “That’s My King” (WINNER)
Top K-Pop Touring Artist
SEVENTEEN (WINNER)
Top Afrobeats Artist
Tyla (WINNER)
Top Dance/Electronic Artist
Charli XCX (WINNER)
Top Christian Artist
Elevation Worship (WINNER)
Top Gospel Artist
CeCe Winans (WINNER)
Coldplay was on location in Brazil (they later performed on the telecast) as they accepted the honors for Top Rock Touring Artist.
Breakout artist Jelly Roll, 40, collected his first-ever Billboard Music Award for Top Hard Rock Song for All My Life, a collab with Falling In Reverse.
Singer-songwriter Teddy Swims, 32, won the honors for Top Hot 100 Song and Top Radio Song for Lose Control.
‘Two is absolutely bonkers, man. I’m so grateful,’ Swims said in his acceptance speech. Lose Control has changed my life. Thank you for changing my life.’
Country star Morgan Wallen, 31, took home four awards during Thursday’s show: Top Male Artist, Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, and Top Collaboration for I Had Some Help with Post Malone.
‘I just wanted to say thank you guys for everyone who’s supported me along my journey, and as always, most importantly, thank you to my fans,’ Wallen said in accepting the honors. ‘You guys have just given me so much freedom to make music that I wanna make.
‘Whether it’s a song that sounds similar to something I’ve put out in the past or whether it’s something that’s completely different, you guys have always just at least given it a chance.
Wallen added: ‘And that’s all I can ask for. I really just wanna say thank you guys for being that way with my music. I hope I can come back next year and accept some more, but for now I really appreciate it. God bless.’
Seventeen was named Top K-Pop Touring Artist.
Shaboozey, 29, won three honors for Top Song Sales Artist; Top Selling Song and Top Country Song for A Bar Song (Tipsy).
Chappell Roan, 26, won the honors for Top New Artist, saying, ‘Thank you Billboard for naming me your top new artist of 2024. This is so awesome. You’ve really been so supportive and put not just one song, but multiple songs on the Billboard charts.
‘And this has taken a long time to be a new artist. But it’s awesome to be recognized and all these years of hard work are truly paying off and thank you for being a part of that.’
Tyla’s breakout anthem Water captured two honors for Top Afrobeats Song, while the 22-year-old artist was named the Top Afrobeats Artist. Benson Boone, 22, captured two awards: Top Billboard Global 200 Song and Top Billboard Global (excl. U.S.) Song.
Among the other notable winners Thursday included Zach Bryan, who won five awards: Top Country Touring Artist, Top Country Album, Top Streaming Song, Top Rock Song and Top Rock Artist.
Amid a busy week, Beyoncé claimed the honors for Top Country Female Artist.
Drake and rival Kendrick Lamar both collected honors during Thursday’s show, as Drake won Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Male Artist and Top Rap Album, while Lamar won the honors for Not Like Us.
Bad Bunny won three honors on the evening, including Top Latin Artist, Top Latin Male Artist and Top Latin Album.
Other notable artists who took home singular honors included KAROL G (Top Latin Female Artist), Doja Cat (Top Rap Female Artist), Travis Scott (Top Rap Touring Artist), and Chris Brown (Top R&B Album).
A number of standout artists won multiple awards in the respective genres.
Cece Winans won the awards for Top Gospel Artist and Top Gospel Song for That’s My King, while SZA won Top R&B Artist, Top R&B Female Artist.
Charli XCX won the honors for Top Dance/Electronic Artist and Top Dance/Electronic Album, while Jung Kook won Top K-Pop Album and Top Global K-Pop Song.
Linkin Park was named the Top Rock Duo/Group and Top Hard Rock Artist, while Kacey Musgraves took home Top Streaming Song and Top Rock Song. Chandler Moore claimed honors for Top Gospel Album and Top Christian Song.
Stray Kids captured the honors for Top Global K-Pop Artist at Thursday’s event, while Noah Kahan won Rock Album for Stick Season and FloyyMenor was awarded Top Latin Song for Gata Only with Chris MJ.
The show also featured performances from Shaboozey, Tyla, Jellyroll, Megan Moroney, Fuerza Regida, Coldplay, Linkin Park, Stray Kids, Teddy Swims and Seventeen.
It is important to note that this will be Linkin Park’s first time performing on an award show with Emily Armstrong since the death of lead singer Chester Bennington in 2017.
The BBMAs – which are produced by Dick Clark Productions – measure music consumption from Billboard charts dated October 28, 2023 through October 19, 2024,
The annual event honors the year’s biggest artists, albums, songs, producers and songwriters, newcomers and music legends across multiple genres, based on data that tracks artist’s performance on the Billboard Charts.
The event was pre-recorded at multiple venues around the world with many of the performances tied to the show’s presenting sponsor Marriott Bonvoy.
The BBMAs air on Thursday, December 12, at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX and Fire TV.
Viewers can also tune in on-demand on Paramount+. Performances will roll out across Billboard.com and on Billboard’s social media channels throughout the night.