BTS snags Artist of the Year gong as SZA wins Best Female R&B Artist at 2026 American

BTS scored Artist of the Year while SZA won Best Female R&B Artist during the 52nd Annual American Music Awards in Las Vegas on Monday.

The South Korean boy band which includes members Jin, J-Hope, Jungkook, RM, V, Suga and Jimin took to the stage to accept the big honor which was presented by Busta Rhymes. 

Fans inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena erupted into loud cheers and applause as they addressed the crowd.

‘Armys, we made it once again!’ RM began. ‘Thank you, it’s an honor to have this precious award once again after everybody has done their military service.

‘Like the legendary Busta Rhymes said, it’s a fan-voted award so our biggest thanks and gratitude as always goes to the Armys all over the world,’ he added, referring to the name of their fandom. 

J-Hope then leaned in to say, ‘Wow. We have been overwhelmed by the reaction to this album, honestly. Wow. Thank you for embracing Arirang and every single song on this album. You helped for real. Thank you, we are so grateful.’ 

Jimin also shared, ‘Thank you for following us on tour and showing so much love in every city.’ 

BTS recently dropped their 10th studio album Arirang in March and are currently embarking on their world tour.

Elsewhere in the night, SZA was in the Best Female R&B Artist category with other artists such as Kehlani, Summer Walker, Teyana Taylor and Tyla. 

BTS also made an appearance to present the special award.

The Kill Bill hitmaker made her way to the stage to give a speech but first expressed her excitement to meet the South Korean boy band in person. 

‘It’s nice to meet you formerly in person. And it’s crazy that this is the moment and so I had to take this moment to just let this be the moment,’ she gushed while looking at the group. 

SZA then gave a shout out to ‘every beautiful, imaginative, creative, brilliant, genius woman in this category.’

‘Thank you so much to my label. Thank you so much to God,’ she continued before also recognizing her fans. ‘God bless you! Thank you to my fans!’ 

Earlier in the evening, BTS kicked off the ceremony with an energetic opener as they brought fans to their feet with a pre-taped performance of their track Hooligan from their Arirang World Tour. 

The seven members belted out lyrics to the upbeat song. 

While the group was not at the MGM Grand Garden Arena where the festivities took place for the opening, host Queen Latifah made a promise to the crowd which sent fans into a frenzy. 

‘And if you think it’s loud now, just wait. Because BTS is on their way right here, right now!’ she revealed as she began her hosting duties in a striking red leather jumpsuit.

The host applauded the ‘crazy’ energy in the building while gushing that this year’s show received ‘more votes than ever before’ from fans and viewers. 

Queen Latifah soon introduced comedian Nikki Glaser who presented the first award of the evening for Best Rock Alternative Song. 

The nominees in the category included Noah Kahan, Sombr, Linkin Park, Sublime and also Tame Impala. 

Sombr, who raked in seven nominations, won the award for his track Back To Friends and excitedly took to the stage to give an inspirational message to those in attendance. 

The singer gave a special shout out to his fans and added, ‘I wouldn’t be here without you, I love my fans. 

‘Thank you to my family. I love my family. And thank you to the AMAs.’

He continued, ‘And I just want to say, for anyone that wants to do anything or pursue anything or do music or whatever you want to do that feels impossible, it’s so not impossible. 

‘Because two years ago I was sitting in my living room watching this show and wanting nothing more than to be on this stage. And now I’m here, so you can do it,’ Sombr encouraged. 

He also recalled penning Back To Friends when he was age 19 and ‘depressed, all by myself in my bedroom and I produced it by myself. So being here, I never would have expected that. So thank you, I love you.’

The music artist was dressed for the event wearing a pair of black trousers as well as a black shirt that contained a large cutout on the front and intricate details on the material. 

Hootie & The Blowfish then took to the stage to perform some of their hits from over the years including Hold My Hand and Only Wanna Be With You. 

Three decades earlier, the band garnered their first AMA win for Pop/Rock New Artist. 

Jason Derulo and Paula Abdul were next to take to the stage to present the award for Song of the Year. 

Nominees in the category included Alex Warren for Ordinary, Ella Langley for Choosin’ Texas, singers of Golden: Ejae, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, Leon Thomas for Mutt, Sabrina Carpenter for Manchild, Taylor Swift for The Fate Of Ophelia as well as Sombr for Back To Friends. 

Golden, which is found in the movie K-pop Demon Hunters, won the honor and both Ejae as well as Rei Ami flashed big smiles as they made their way to the stage to accept the award.

‘Oh my goodness,’ Ejae began as the live audience cheered loudly inside the Las Vegas arena. ‘Truly, like this movie and this song is fueled by the fans…’

She gave a shout out to the fans as well as the ‘K-pop Demon Hunters team.’ 

Rei Ami also added, ‘Thank you so much to the fans that voted. K-pop Demon Hunters would not be what it is without our passionate fandom.’ 

She also reflected on a ‘life-changing year’ before giving more recognition to their fans. 

Sombr then took to the stage once again to perform his song Homewrecker as the crowd erupted into cheers. 

The star donned a black shirt that was partially unbuttoned as well as a pair of black pants. 

He embraced his punk side while also sporting black shadow around his eyes and at one point during the performance, water fell down in a dramatic moment. 

The track was released earlier this year in February and landed the number two spot on the Billboard U.S. Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. 

Olympic gold medalist Alyssa Liu then presented the next award for Best Rock Alternative Artist. 

The award went to Twenty One Pilots and Josh Dun as well as Tyler Joseph stepped to the stage to accept the honor. 

‘We want to thank the AMAs for continuing to support us over the years. We want to thank our fans,’ Joseph began. 

‘We wouldn’t… it feels redundant to say it because everyone is saying it, but we really mean it. We would pit our fans against anyone else’s.’ 

Joseph then gave a sweet shout out to his daughters Rosie and Junie while promising to read them Charlotte’s Web the next day. 

The Pussycat Dolls joined forces with Busta Rhymes to perform a medley of their hits such as Buttons and Don’t Cha. 

Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt and Ashley Roberts turned heads wearing matching red latex looks for the performance. 

Their reunion was announced earlier this year as they also dropped a new track titled Club Song. 

Leon Thomas then won the next award for Breakthrough R&B Artist and is known for songs such as Mutt. 

‘This is such an honor,’ he said. ‘R&B is home for me. The music that my family raised me on. Shout out to all the other people who were nominated tonight, all of you really inspire me. I love you all so much.’ 

Thomas then dedicated the award to his fans ‘for sticking by my side.’ 

‘A lot of you grew up with me on Nickelodeon. I appreciate you all for rocking with me, for real.’

He notably appeared on the teen series Victorious from 2011-2013. 

The music artist also dedicated the honor to his late stepfather before sending love to his fans once again. 

Karol G then took to the AMAs stage for a performance before accepting the honor for International Artist Award of Excellence. 

The songstress belted out lyrics to the track Ivonny Bonita and flashed her toned midriff a shimmering silver bodysuit that had various cutouts. 

Afterwards, she stayed on stage as John Legend presented her with the special award. 

‘What an honor, John, that you gave me this award. It’s legend. This is going to be a legend moment in my career for sure.’ 

The Colombian singer added, ‘I want to say, more than anything, this career has given me the most important thing in my life: purpose.

‘I can say things in my songs that become a voice for a lot of people, a healing place, a safe place. I think my life is meaningful because of my music.’ 

However, Legend stepped forward once again to surprisingly reveal that she would be winning another award that night for Best Latin Album for her album Tropicoqueta. 

Her mouth dropped open in shock as she was handed over a second trophy.

Best Throwback Song was the next category which went to Black Eyed Peas for their 2010 track Rock That Body. 

Fergie excitedly took to the stage with will.i.am, Taboo, and apl.de.ap to accept the award. 

‘I want to thank all of the fans for voting for this so I can stand up here right now with my longtime friends and brothers, the Black Eyed Peas,’ Fergie emotionally gushed while standing next to her bandmates.

‘In honor of this special song, this era, Rock That Body, there’s so many memories along the line with that.’ 

She also gave a shout out to fans to posting their music across social media and keeping their songs alive. 

‘Sometimes, the content you make is so big and the feelings are so big for me it’s overwhelming to look because there’s so much love that you put into it.’ 

The songstress added, ‘And I just wanna say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I see you, you mean so much.’ 

Country singer Riley Green then jumped onto the stage to perform his song Worst Way for fans. 

He sported a pair of classic denim jeans as well as a white shirt and tan cowboy hat as he belted out lyrics.