“Bad Bunny leads the nominations for the 2022 American Music Awards with eight nods, including his first for artist of the year. If the Puerto Rican superstar wins in all eight categories, he would tie Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston for the most AMAs in a single year.
Beyoncé, Drake and Taylor Swift are close behind with six nods each. That makes Bey and Swift the year’s top female nominees. The two powerhouses are facing off in three categories — artist of the year, favorite female pop artist and favorite pop album.
Adele, Harry Styles, The Weeknd and Future each received five nods. Imagine Dragons and Måneskin are tied as the group with the most nods – four. Jack Harlow and Tems also received four nods.
The American Music Awards are set to air live from Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. ET, and via tape delay at 8 p.m. PT, on ABC. A host has not yet been announced. Cardi B hosted last year’s show.
There are seven nominees for artist of the year, up from five nominees in each of the last five years. Swift received her record-extending ninth nomination in the category; Drake, his sixth; The Weeknd, his fifth. Adele, Beyoncé and Styles each received their third – counting Styles’ two previous nods with One Direction. As noted, this was Bad Bunny’s first nod in the category.
Swift holds the record for the most wins in the artist of the year category (six). She also holds the record for most AMA wins overall (34).
The AMAs added or revived six categories this year – favorite K-pop artist, favorite Afrobeats artist, favorite rock song, favorite rock album, favorite touring artist and favorite soundtrack. This is a breakthrough for K-pop and Afrobeats, which have not previously had AMAs categories dedicated to them. Favorite touring artist was dropped the last two years because of the pandemic, when relatively few people went to concerts. Favorite soundtrack was dropped last year when moviegoing was down for the same reason.
The AMAs dropped one category this year – favorite trending song, won last year by Megan Thee Stallion’s “Body.”
With two nods (collaboration of the year and favorite touring artist), Elton John makes history as the longest-recognized artist in AMA history. He was nominated for favorite pop/rock male artist in 1974 at the inaugural American Music Awards. He lost to singer/songwriter Jim Croce, whose death in a September 1973 plane crash triggered a tremendous sales surge.
More than 40 artists received their first-ever nominations this year, including the aforementioned Harlow and Tems (four nods each), Latto (three), Blackpink (one), Anitta (one), and Swedish House Mafia (one).
The nominations announcement kicked off ABC’s Good Morning America with a reveal of the 2022 new artist of the year nominees — Dove Cameron, Gayle, Latto, Måneskin and Steve Lacy. The segment featured a video of two-time AMA winner Becky G surprising this year’s nominees with the news. Additional nominees were announced via the AMAs’ Twitter account.
The AMAs bill themselves as “the world’s largest fan-voted awards show.” They further tout that last year’s show was the most social telecast of 2021 with 46.5 million interactions.
Nominees are based on key fan interactions – as reflected on the Billboard charts – including streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay, and tour grosses. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partner Luminate, and cover the eligibility period of Sept. 24, 2021, through Sept. 22, 2022 (representing Billboard chart dates of Oct. 9, 2021, through Oct. 1, 2022).
The 2022 American Music Awards are produced by dick clark productions and Jesse Collins Entertainment. Collins, founder and CEO of the company that bears his name, returns as showrunner and executive producer. Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay, two of the top executives in Collins’ company, and Larry Klein, a longtime member of the AMAs production inner circle, are also executive producers.
This is the 50th edition of the show, which was created by TV music/variety OG Dick Clark in 1973. The show has aired on ABC continuously since 1974, marking one of the longest continuous network relationships for any awards show.
Tickets are now on sale now at www.axs.com
Here’s a complete list of 2022 American Music Awards nominees:
“Artist of the year
Adele
Bad Bunny
Beyoncé
Drake
Harry Styles
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd
New artist of the year
Dove Cameron
Gayle
Latto
Måneskin
Steve Lacy
Collaboration of the year
Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
Elton John & Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart – PNAU Remix”
Future ft. Drake & Tems, “Wait For U”
Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby”
The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, “Stay”
Favorite touring artist
Bad Bunny
Coldplay
Ed Sheeran
Elton John
The Rolling Stones
Favorite music video
Adele, “Easy on Me”
Bad Bunny ft. Chencho Corleone, “Me Porto Bonito”
Harry Styles, “As It Was”
Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby”
Taylor Swift, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)”
Favorite male pop artist
Bad Bunny
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Harry Styles
The Weeknd
Favorite female pop artist
Adele
Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Lizzo
Taylor Swift
Favorite pop duo or group
BTS
Coldplay
Imagine Dragons
Måneskin
OneRepublic
Favorite pop album
Adele, 30
Bad Bunny, Un Verano Sin Ti
Beyoncé, Renaissance
Harry Styles, Harry’s House
Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version)
The Weeknd, Dawn FM
Favorite pop song
Adele, “Easy on Me”
Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
Harry Styles, “As It Was”
Lizzo, “About Damn Time”
The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, “Stay”
Favorite male country artist
Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Walker Hayes
Favorite female country artist
Carrie Underwood
Lainey Wilson
Maren Morris
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift
Favorite male hip-hop artist
Drake
Future
Kendrick Lamar
Lil Baby
Lil Durk
Favorite female hip-hop artist
Cardi B
GloRilla
Latto
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
Favorite hip-hop album
Future, I Never Liked You
Gunna, DS4EVER
Kendrick Lamar, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Lil Durk, 7220
Polo G, Hall of Fame 2.0
Favorite hip-hop song
Future ft. Drake & Tems, “Wait For U”
Jack Harlow, “First Class”
Kodak Black, “Super Gremlin”
Latto, “Big Energy”
Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby”
Favorite male R&B artist
Brent Faiyaz
Chris Brown
Givēon
Lucky Daye
The Weeknd
Favorite female R&B artist
Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Muni Long
Summer Walker
SZA
Favorite R&B album
Beyoncé, Renaissance
Drake, Honestly, Nevermind
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak), An Evening with Silk Sonic
Summer Walker, Still Over It
The Weeknd, Dawn FM
Favorite R&B song
Beyoncé, “Break My Soul”
Muni Long, “Hrs And Hrs”
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak), “Smokin Out The Window”
SZA, “I Hate U”
Wizkid ft. Tems, “Essence”
Favorite male Latin artist
Bad Bunny
Farruko
J Balvin
Jhayco
Rauw Alejandro
Favorite female Latin artist
Anitta
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Rosalía
Favorite Latin duo or group
Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga
Calibre 50
Eslabon Armado
Grupo Firme
Yahritza Y Su Esencia
Favorite Latin album
Bad Bunny, Un Verano Sin Ti
Farruko, La 167
J Balvin, Jose
Rauw Alejandro, Vice Versa
Rosalía, Motomami
Favorite Latin song
Bad Bunny ft. Chencho Corleone, “Me Porto Bonito”
Becky G x Karol G, “MAMIII”
Karol G, “Provenza”
Rauw Alejandro, “Todo de Ti”
Sebastián Yatra, “Dos Oruguitas””. – Billboard.com
