Publications
Partners
Las Vegas — Taylor Swift dominated the Billboard Music Awards with eight wins, including top artist, while Kanye West was booed during his performance that closed the three-hour event.
Swift also won top Billboard 200 album for 1989 and top female artist Sunday night.
"Oh, this is such a good night!" she said after winning the top prize, besting One Direction, Ariana Grande, Sam Smith and Katy Perry. "Early this morning I watched my brother Austin graduate from Notre Dame ... (and) to anyone who's graduating this year ... this is for you."
"This is kind of a graduation for us," Swift said to the audience of top musicians.
Swift kissed her rumoured boyfriend Calvin Harris on the cheek and gave him a hug at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Swift, who sat next to the DJ-producer-singer, kicked off the awards by debuting her action-filled music video for Bad Blood, which stars Selena Gomez and Lena Dunham and showcases Swift as a fighting vixen.
Swift swapped her first two verses with new ones from rapper Kendrick Lamar for "Bad Blood," a song rumoured to be about Swift's friendship with Perry.
"I am so excited I got to show the world," Swift told the audience.
One Direction, which recently downsized to four members, won the night's first award for top duo/group. They also won top touring artist.
"There is one more person to share this with, and that's our brother Zayn," Liam Payne said of Zayn Malik, who left the boy band.
Iggy Azalea won top rap song for Fancy as her NBA player boyfriend, Nick Young, watched her with emotion. Azalea also won top streaming artist and rap artist.
Like Azalea, Smith and Pharrell also won three awards — the most after Swift.
Smith, who recently had vocal surgery, didn't attend the show. He wrote his thank you speech on cue cards, which aired via video when he won top male artist.
All the performers
Van Halen was the night's first performance and rocked the crowd with its 1984 hit Panama. Mariah Carey sang her first hit, Vision of Love, which was pitchy. She followed it with new single, Infinity, where she also struggled. She ended with a strong high note, though.
Britney Spears was energetic when she performed her new single, Pretty Girls, in a sheer black cat suit alongside Azalea. Swift and Zendaya sang along as Nicki Minaj mainly danced, barely singing or rapping live and relying on a backing track during Hey Mama and The Night Is Still Young.
The Simple Minds performed Don't You (Forget About Me) from The Breakfast Club, which is celebrating 30 years. Molly Ringwald introduced the band and stood next to Swift in the audience while they performed, and the women seemed to exchange numbers.
Meghan Trainor performed a duet with John Legend and won hot 100 song for All About That Bass. She was teary and shaky onstage, as was her friend and collaborator Charlie Puth, who performed See You Again with Wiz Khalifa earlier in the show.
Other performers included Pitbull with Chris Brown and Little Big Town with Faith Hill.
Hosts Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen offered some jokes Sunday night: The rapper described why he's a good host, namechecking his music and acting credits. Teigen, a model, replied, "And I bang a musician" as her husband, John Legend, stood up.
Legend later won top radio song for his No. 1 hit, All of Me.
"I have to thank, of course, my beautiful co-host, my lovely wife, Chrissy Teigen," he said. "I am so proud that we won this award together tonight."
Legend also won top streaming digital song (audio); other double winners included Trainor, Jason Aldean, Hozier and Enrique Iglesias.
Ludacris offered some words about the late B.B. King and his renowned career while the camera panned to a guitar on an empty stage.
Here is the full list of winners:
Top Artist
Taylor Swift
Top Country Artist
Florida Georgia Line
Billboard Chart Achievement Award presented by Samsung Galaxy (Fan voted)
Taylor Swift
Top touring artist
One Direction
Top female artist
Taylor Swift
Top radio song
John Legend, "All of Me"
Top male artist
Sam Smith
Top rap song
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, "Fancy"
Top Billboard 200 album
Taylor Swift, 1989
Top duo/group
One Direction
Top new artist
Sam Smith
Top Billboard 200 artist
Taylor Swift
Top hot 100 artist
Taylor Swift
Top digital songs artist
Taylor Swift
Top radio songs artist
Sam Smith
Top social artist
Justin Bieber
Top streaming artist
Iggy Azalea
Top R&B artist
Pharrell Williams
Top rap artist
Iggy Azalea
Top rock artist
Hozier
Top Latin artist
Romeo Santos
Top dance/electronic artist
Calvin Harris
Top Christian artist
Hillsong United
Top soundtrack
Frozen
Top R&B album
Pharrell Williams, G I R L
Top rap album
J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Top country album
Jason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt
Top rock album
Coldplay, Ghost Stories
Top Latin album
Enrique Iglesias, Sex and Love
Top dance/electronic album
Lindsey Stirling, Shatter Me
Top Christian album
Lecrae, Anomaly
Top hot 100 song
Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass"
Top digital song
Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass"
Top streaming song (audio)
John Legend, "All of Me"
Top streaming song (video)
Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off"
Top R&B song
Pharrell Williams, "Happy"
Top country song
Jason Aldean, "Burnin' It Down"
Top rock song
Hozier, "Take Me to Church"
Top Latin song
Enrique Iglesias feat. Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona, "Bailando"
Top dance/electronic song
DJ Snake & Lil Jon, "Turn Down For What"
Top Christian song
Carrie Underwood, "Something in the Water”
(Photos: AP)
