What we covered here
- “Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross hosted the American Music Awards on ABC, where Taylor Swift broke a record. Scroll down for key moments.
- See the winners.
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The American Music Awards 2018
18 Posts
Our live coverage of the American Music Awards has concluded for the night. Stick with CNN Entertainment for more.
AMAs pay tribute to Aretha Franklin with star-studded performance
The American Music Awards paid tribute to Aretha Franklin, the late Queen of Soul, at the closing of their show on Tuesday night.
The crowd were on their feet as Gladys Knight took the stage to kick things off with a rendition of “Amazing Grace.” It was perfection. Donnie McClurkin, CeCe Winans, Ledisi and Mary Mary also performed and brought down the house.
It was a fitting tribute for Franklin, who died in August and had a subsequent funeral in her hometown of Detroit which was fit for a queen.
Panic! at the Disco absolutely slays their tribute to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Mama mia!
Panic! at the Disco tore it up offering a tribute to Queen with a performance of the iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The group performed via satellite from Sydney, Australia.
The performance was introduced by Rami Malek, Joseph Mazzello, and Gwilym Lee who are starring in the “Bohemian Rhapsody” film which opens in theaters November 2.
Panic! at the Disco did a better than great job – Freddie Mercury would have been proud.
Taylor Swift breaks Whitney Houston's record AMA record with 22 awards
Taylor Swift took home Artist of the Year at the AMAs, making her the only female artist to have won 22.
Swift beat Whitney Houston’s record of 21.
Earlier in the night, Swift took home the awards for Favorite Album, Pop/Rock and Favorite Tour of the Year. Lenny Kravitz presented Swift with the coveted award.
Swift also noted that the awards being given out at tonight’s show were “voted on by the people.”
“And you know what else is voted on by the people,” she asked to cheers and applause, “it the midterm elections on November 6th. Get out and vote.”
See her speech:
Carrie Underwood gives emotional performance at AMAs
Carrie Underwood performed her single “Spinning Bottles” during the AMAs and was giving us all the feels.
The singer, who is expecting her second child, looked teary eyed at some points while singing, “Round and around and around they go/Will it end? Nobody knows/She’s all cried out on the kitchen floor/Spinnin’ rooms, spinnin’ wheels, spinnin’ outta control.”
The song is off her latest album, “Cry Pretty.”
Viral sensation Mary Halsey makes AMAs debut
Remember Mary Halsey?
She went viral back in August for her rendition of Missy Elliott’s “Work It” at a karaoke competition. She dubbed herself Missy’s “Funky White Sister.” Ellen DeGeneres had her on her talk show to perform and midway through Missy came out and surprised her.
Well, she’s back. DeGeneres sent Halsey to the AMAs as her special correspondent, which was why she was seen in the audience just now.
Taylor Swift hints at making new music during AMAs speech
Taylor Swift accepted her second American Music Award during Wednesday night’s show. Swift won Favorite Album, Pop/Rock and earlier in the night she took home the award for Favorite Tour of the Year.
During her speech she thanked fans for liking her “Reputation” album and said, “Guys, I always look at albums as chapters in my life and to the fans, I’m so happy that you like this one. I’m so happy that this means that you like this one. I have to be really honest with you about something, I’m even more excited about the next chapter.”
XXXTentacion wins posthumous Favorite Album, Soul/R&B
XXXTentacion was just awarded ‘Favorite Album Soul/R&B’ at the AMAs for his album ’17.’ The late rapper was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in Broward County, Florida, this past June. He was 20.
His real name was Jahseh Onfroy and his mother, Cleopatra Bernard, has since kept in touch with fans on social media. There has been an outpouring of love for the rapper’s family since his death. In August Bernard shared the rapper’s girlfriend is expecting a boy by him.
Accepting the award on Tuesday night, Bernard said, “I am honored to accept this award on behalf of my son. I would like to thank the AMAs, his fans, and to everyone who made this possible. Thank you guys so much. I appreciate it.”
See it:
Jennifer Lopez brings down the house with powerful performance of "Limitless"
Jennifer Lopez proved once again why she’s a triple threat. The artist sang her new single “Limitless” from her upcoming movie, “Second Act.” The song was written by Sia.
This is Lopez’s first film since 2012’s “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and before that, 2010’s “The Back-up Plan.”
Migos take favorite duo or group/pop, rock, over Imagine Dragons and Maroon 5
You know how it feels like we now live in a world where anything can happen? That was reinforced when rap group The Migos bested Imagine Dragons and Maroon 5 for favorite duo or group/pop, rock. It was a proud moment for Cardi B, who is married to Migos member Offset and she appeared to be cheering the loudest for them. Mumble rappers over Maroon 5? The fans have spoken and it’s probably all love as Cardi B made a guest appearance on the latter’s hit song “Girls Like You.”
Comedian Billy Eichner used his time on stage to encourage young people to vote
Calling it “the biggest election of our lifetime,” comedian Billy Eichner told viewers watching the American Music Awards that it’s the final day in several states to register to vote for the upcoming midterm elections on Nov. 6.
“Don’t let anyone tell you your vote won’t count. It counts. It does,” Eichner said, also giving a shout out to Taylor Swift who recently posted on Instagram about the upcoming election, directing people to register at vote.gov (Swift actually posted vote.org – both will do the trick).
Eichner is no stranger to politics – he’s also partnered up with Funny or Die this year for an effort called “Glam Up The Midterms,” which looks to bring awareness to voting in the midterm elections.
Cardi B makes AMAs debut, and she likes it
Cardi B hit the American Music Awards stage for the very first time with a performance of her hit single, “I Like It” with Bad Bunny & J Balvin.
A debut: This was Cardi’s first awards show performance since giving birth to her first child, daughter Kulture Kiari in July.
Cardi also leads the way with the most nominations alongside Drake. They are both tied with eight.
AMAs briefly get political with a t-shirt and a Beto shoutout
During his acceptance speech for Soul/R&B Male, Khalid briefly got political – giving a shout out to Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat who is running to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas.
“Before I go, shout out to the 915, to El Paso, Texas, shout out, Beto. Thank you,” Khalid said.
Right after Khalid’s speech that included a nod to O’Rourke, AMA host, Tracee Ellis Ross, took a moment to mention that she’s registered to vote, while sporting a “I am a voter” t-shirt.
See it:
Mariah Carey performs in sea of pink at AMAs
Mariah Carey took the stage at the AMAs to perform her new single, “With You,” off her upcoming album. Fans praised the singer’s performance on social media for going off without a hitch.
In years past, Carey has suffered from technical difficulties, most recently during her live New Year’s Eve performance last year when an audio track malfunctioned, revealing Carey was lip syncing.
Post Malone thanks fans, doesn't mention streak of bad luck
Post Malone debuted a new haircut and thanked fans for his favorite pop/rock male artist win. He said he’s not good at speaking and didn’t mention a streak of bad luck he had last month that included an emergency landing during a flight and a car accident.
Tracee Ellis Ross says she'll 'feature black designers' in all her AMAs outfits. Here's one of them.
Tracee Ellis Ross hosted the AMAs live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and brought her A-game. After busting out some serious dance moves to songs from Cardi B and Donald Glover, she draped a floor-length Gucci coat from their Dapper Dan collection over her shoulders.
She then said she plans to only wear outfits from black designers throughout the show.
According to Gucci’s website, the collection is “inspired” by Daniel Day aka Dapper Dan Archive, a Harlem-based fashion designer who rose to prominence in the 80s.
Taylor Swift kicks off the AMAs
Taylor Swift kicked off the American Music Awards Tuesday night. It was her first awards show performance in nearly three years. Swift sang her hit, “I Did Something Bad” off her Reputation album.
Swift is up for four awards including “Artist of the Year.”
Cardi B and Drake lead tonight's show with 8 nominations
Competition will be fierce at this year’s American Music Awards.
“Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross will host the AMAs, which air live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT.
Taylor Swift will open the show — her first awards show performance in nearly three years.
Cardi B and Drake are both nominated for eight awards. Ed Sheeran and Post Malone follow with six nominations each, and Camila Cabello has five.
Drake, Imagine Dragons, Post Malone, Sheeran and Swift were all nominated for the artist of the year award.
Among the performances, a tribute to the late Aretha Franklin is planned.
Click here for a full list of the nominees.
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