With Eurovision and Lil Nas X’s steamy SNL performance barely in the rearview, the 2021 Billboard Music Awards grabbed the pop-culture spotlight Sunday, offering up a cavalcade of huge celebrity moments, red-carpet gasps—Bieber cut his dreads! Megan Fox seemingly cut her dress!—and some electric performances in which Gen Z was as boggled by an appearance by Duran Duran as Gen X was by the existence of BTS.
Hosted by Nick Jonas at LA’s Microsoft Theater, the Billboards are very much a popularity contest, recognizing artists with the most sales and streams rather than the results of an industry vote… which goes a long way in explaining why disgraced country stat Morgan Wallen was awarded three statues despite a video that circulated of him spouting off racial epitaphs.
The night’s biggest winner was The Weeknd, who walked away with 10 awards after a recent Grammy snub found him making headlines for boycotting the industry’s biggest awards. Bad Bunny dominated the Latin awards, Taylor Swift nabbed a pair for folklore, Pop Smoke burned up the hip-hop nods, BTS made a huge splash for their crossover K-Pop takeover and Drake and Pink both grabbed honorary awards and headlines while accepting them.
Here are five of the biggest moments from the night, as well as a full list of winners.
The Weeknd reaps awards while narrowly avoiding death
The Weeknd had a massive year between the cultural ubiquity of “Blinding Lights,” the resounding success of After Hours, a huge Super Bowl halftime show, and his headline-making fight with the Grammys. The artist rounded out the year with a huge Billboard showing, netting Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top R&B Artist and many, many more.
But it was the artist's bombastic performance of "Save Your Tears" that truly stole the Billboards. Perched in the back of a speeding convertible, the inimitable Abel Tesfaye sang while pursued by a fleet of cars and trucks in an empty parking lot. In a staggering single-shot feat, he then dismounted and engaged in a performance that played out like a death-defying game of Frogger and a marvelous feat of choreographed automotive dancing. The Weeknd spent the entire year sporting a costume of bloody bandages and bruises. During this wild performance, it looked like he might finally end up with real wounds.
goosebumps witnessing this mother-daughter collab! 💜
— Billboard Music Awards (@BBMAs) May 24, 2021
how great was Willow Sage Hart on the #BBMAs stage?! pic.twitter.com/FNqen5k39a
Pink and her daughter go aerial
Pink accepted her Icon Award by chiding presenter Jon Bon Jovi for breaking her heart when she was a teenage fan—a typically tongue-in-cheek moment of candor from an artist who has spent decades relishing such moments. But the singer doubled down on her icon status with a vertiginous song medley that included a full aerial performance and duet with her 9-year-old daughter Willow, which sent viewers into an emotional frenzy.
drake wins @billboard artist of the decade. and gives us an adonis cameo at the @BBMAs pic.twitter.com/wNt6NpzMD6
— Genius (@Genius) May 24, 2021
Drake brings the big dad energy
Not to be outdone on the “aaaws,” Drake accepted his Artist of the Decade award with a very special guest in tow: 3.5-year-old son Adonis. The Toronto-based rapper has largely kept Adonis out of the spotlight despite the efforts of rival rapper Pusha T, who put the then-infant front and center in his 2018 diss track “The Story of Adion.” Last night though, Drake was a beaming papa, hoisting the gobsmacked boy up to the mic in his acceptance speech. Adonis cried. America melted.
BTS unleashes “Butter” on the world
K-Pop megastars BTS continue their world domination this week, releasing their new English-language single “Butter” ahead of a filmed performance of the sure-to-be-hit followup to “Dynamite.” Sure, it’s essentially just a Billboard-branded music video, but the video’s swagger and infectious beat are sure to be circulating for the rest of eternity.
WATCH: @DojaCat feat. @SZA perform Kiss Me More at the #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/DYBQGwFUWo
— Opinionated Me (@opinion8dmecom) May 24, 2021
Doja Cat and SZA get sensually psychedelic
“Say So” artist Doja Cat took home Best R&B Female Artist at the awards, and took the state to back it up with a velvety-smooth, retrofuturistic performance of her hit “Kiss Me More,” complete with psychedelic backdrops, globe-headed backup dances, and an appearance by SZA sporting a neon-yellow wig. She may have lost out on Top New Artist to Pop Smoke, but Doja's rising star is already burning bright.
The full list of Billboard Music Awards Winners:
Top Artist: The Weeknd
Top New Artist: Pop Smoke
Top Male Artist: The Weeknd
Top Female Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Duo/Group: BTS
Top Billboard 200 Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Hot 100 Artist: The Weeknd
Top Streaming Songs Artist: Drake
Top Song Sales Artist: BTS
Top Radio Songs Artist: The Weeknd
Top Social Artist: BTS
Top R&B Artist: The Weeknd
Top R&B Male Artist: The Weeknd
Top R&B Female Artist: Doja Cat
Top Rap Artist: Pop Smoke
Top Rap Male Artist: Pop Smoke
Top Rap Female Artist: Megan Thee Stallion
Top Country Artist: Morgan Wallen
Top Country Male Artist: Morgan Wallen
Top Country Female Artist: Gabby Barrett
Top Country Duo/Group: Florida Georgia Line
Top Rock Artist: Machine Gun Kelly
Top Latin Artist: Bad Bunny
Top Latin Male Artist: Bad Bunny
Top Latin Female Artist: Karol G
Top Latin Duo/Group: Eslabón Armado
Top Dance/Electronic Artist: Lady Gaga
Top Christian Artist: Elevation Worship
Top Gospel Artist: Kanye West
Top Billboard 200 Album: Pop Smoke, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
Top R&B Album: The Weeknd, After Hours
Top Rap Album: Pop Smoke, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
Top Country Album: Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album
Top Rock Album: Machine Gun Kelly, Tickets to My Downfall
Top Latin Album: Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG
Top Dance/Electronic Album: Lady Gaga, Chromatica
Top Christian Album: Carrie Underwood, My Gift
Top Gospel Album: Maverick City Music, Maverick City Vol. 3 Part 1
Top Hot 100 Song: The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”
Top Streaming Song: DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch, “ROCKSTAR”
Top Selling Song: BTS, “Dynamite”
Top Radio Song: The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”
Top Collaboration (Fan Voted): Gabby Barrett ft. Charlie Puth, “I Hope”
Top R&B Song: The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”
Top Rap Song: DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch, “ROCKSTAR”
Top Country Song: Gabby Barrett, “I Hope”
Top Rock Song: AJR, “Bang!”
Top Latin Song: Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez, “Dákiti”
Top Dance/Electronic Song: SAINt JHN, “Roses (Imanbek Remix)”
Top Christian Song: Elevation Worship ft. Brandon Lake, “Graves Into Gardens”
Top Gospel Song: Kanye West ft. Travis Scott, “Wash Us In The Blood”
Meanwhile, in the UK The Brits celebrated music last month
The US is getting its own version of Eurovision