Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Dan + Shay were the top winners at the 2020 American Music Awards which aired on Sunday night from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater.
Swift — who going into the show had 29 AMA wins, the most of all time — broke her own record and upped her tally to 32, with Sunday’s three additions, including the top prize, the favorite artist award and artist of the year.
The pop star said she was unable to accept the award in person because she was busy rerecording her early music catalog, which was recently sold.
The Weeknd lost artist of the year, but he still kicked off his all-star week as a big winner: Days before he’s expected to land multiple Grammy nominations, he won favorite soul/R&B male artist, favorite soul/R&B album for “After Hours” and favorite soul/R&B song for “Heartless” two days before the 2021 Grammy nominations are announced.
Doja Cat won new artist of the year and Becky G won favorite female Latin artist, a brand new category at the AMAs.
The show featured performances from Billie Eilish, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez and Maluma, the Weeknd with Kenny G, BTS, Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa, Dan + Shay and more.
Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes opened the show with their new single, “Monster.” Bieber also performed two of his hit singles, “Lonely” and “Holy.”
Katy Perry took the stage for the first time since becoming a mom and performed “Only Love” with Darius Rucker. Megan Thee Stallion, who released her debut album on Friday, also had a standout performance.
As with all awards shows this season, the AMAs had to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines by having a limited audience and testing everyone who enters the building.