| 2022Billboard Music Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | May 15, 2022 (2022-05-15) | |||
| Location | MGM Grand Garden Arena,Las Vegas,Nevada, United States | |||
| Country | United States | |||
| Hosted by | Sean "Diddy" Combs | |||
| Most awards | Olivia Rodrigo (7) | |||
| Most nominations | The Weeknd (17) | |||
| Website | billboardmusicawards | |||
| Television/radio coverage | ||||
| Network | NBC | |||
| Viewership | 2.11 million | |||
| Produced by | MRC Live, Alternative[1] | |||
| ||||
The2022Billboard Music Awards were held on May 15, 2022, at theMGM Grand Garden Arena inLas Vegas. Hosted bySean "Diddy" Combs, the show aired live onNBC and was also available for streaming onPeacock. Nominations across 62 categories—for releases during the period dated April 10, 2021 to March 26, 2022—were announced online through Twitter on April 8, 2022.The Weeknd received the most nominations of any artist, with 17;Doja Cat was the most-nominated female act with 14;BTS was the most-nominated group with seven.
Olivia Rodrigo won seven awards, includingTop New Artist, and was the most-awarded artist at the show.Drake won five awards, includingTop Artist, and extended his record as the most-awarded artist in BBMA history, with 34 wins overall. BTS won three awards, includingTop Duo/Group, and became the most-awarded group in BBMA history with 12 wins overall, breaking a 17-year record previously held byDestiny's Child.Justin Bieber became the first artist to win theBillboard Music Award for Top Hot 100 Song for a second time since the category's inception in 1990.Mary J. Blige was honored with the 10thBillboard Icon Award.
Nominations were announced on April 8, 2022, viaTwitter, and selected from releases during the eligibility period of March 26, 2021, through April 10, 2022, which corresponded toBillboard's chart dates of April 10, 2021, through March 26, 2022. Five new categories were included: TopBillboard Global 200 Artist, TopBillboard Global Excl. U.S. Artist, TopBillboard Global 200 Song, TopBillboard Global Excl. U.S. Song, and Top Viral Song, taking the ceremony's total to 62 categories.[2] The global categories are based onBillboard'sGlobal 200/Global Excl. U.S. charts launched in 2020 while the Viral Song category was created to honor songs thatachieve virality on social media platforms, namelyTikTok.[3] No fan-voted categories were announced.Sean "Diddy" Combs was announced as the show's host (and executive producer alongside Robert Deaton) on April 22.[4]
The awards were preceded by the first-everBillboard MusicCon, a 2-day music event sponsored bySmirnoff and held on May 13 and 14 atArea15 in Las Vegas. Participants comprised both artists and executives, and included industry managers such as Dina Sahim (Swedish House Mafia,French Montana), Alex DePersia (Pharrell Williams,Gracie Abrams), and Nelly Ortiz (DJ Khaled). International artists invited as guest speakers includedAnitta,Burna Boy, Ukrainian singerMax Barskih, andRauw Alejandro. Anitta, Shenseea,Ty Dolla Sign,Latto, andMachine Gun Kelly were among the performers.[5] Panels held included discussions on the evolution of the music scene across genres and cultures, and women in music, among other related topics.
The show aired live onNBC and was also available for streaming onPeacock.[6] It garnered the lowest viewership in the history of the ceremony, with 2.11 million viewers. The three-hour long broadcast earned an average 0.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic on NBC, dropping even lower thanthe previous year's 0.7 rating and 2.8 million audience.[7] This later was surpassed but thenext year’s event; which had lack of many viewers due to the ceremony being live streamed online.
The first performance lineup was announced on April 19. It included four first-time performers: Rauw Alejandro,Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, and Burna Boy.[8]Silk Sonic,Florence and the Machine,Maxwell—slated for a "special tribute performance to a pop icon"[9]—andMorgan Wallen were announced on April 29.[10]Ed Sheeran,Becky G,Miranda Lambert andElle King, andTravis Scott were announced on May 9.[11] TheRed Hot Chili Peppers, who were included in the initial April 19 lineup,[8] cancelled their performance on May 11, "due to unforeseen circumstances". Machine Gun Kelly andDan + Shay were subsequently added.[12]
Silk Sonic, Becky G, and Kelly made their BBMA performance debuts at the show.[10][11][12] For Wallen, it was his first award show performance since being banned from attending and performing at various ceremonies in early 2021 after hisracial slur controversy,[9] while for Scott it was only his second live performance since theAstroworld Festival crowd crush in November 2021.[11] Sheeran performed live fromBelfast inNorthern Ireland.[11] Icon Award recipientMary J. Blige, who was originally announced as a performer on April 14, did not perform at the show.[13]
| Performer(s) | Song(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Sean "Diddy" Combs Bryson Tiller Jack Harlow Teyana Taylor | Performance Medley "Gotta Move On" "First Class" "Mo Money Mo Problems"[a] | [14] |
| Silk Sonic | "Love's Train" | [15] |
| Rauw Alejandro | "Cúrame" "Museo" "Todo de Ti" | |
| Florence and the Machine | "My Love" | |
| Miranda Lambert andElle King | "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)" | [11] |
| Latto | "Big Energy" | [15] |
| Morgan Wallen | "Don't Think Jesus" "Wasted on You" | |
| Megan Thee Stallion | "Plan B" "Sweetest Pie" | |
| Dan + Shay | "You" | |
| Travis Scott | "Mafia" "Lost Forever" | [16] |
| Machine Gun Kelly | "Twin Flame" | [15] |
| Ed Sheeran | "2step" | |
| Becky G | "Bailé Con Mi Ex" "Mamiii" | |
| Maxwell | "The Lady in My Life"[b] | |
| Burna Boy | "Last Last" "Kilometre" |
The initial list of presenters was released on May 13.[17] Additional presenters were announced later that day and on the following, through the BBMAs officialTwitter account.
The Weeknd led the nominations for a second consecutive year, with 17 to his name.[26]Doja Cat was the most-nominated female artist with 14.[27]BTS earned the most nominations of any duo/group in BBMA history, with seven.[28]Taylor Swift received a record-extending eighth nomination in theTop Artist category.Olivia Rodrigo, nominated alongside Swift in the aforementioned, also earned a nomination forTop New Artist, making her the third consecutive artist in BBMA history—Billie Eilish was the first, in 2020, followed byPop Smoke in 2021—to be simultaneously nominated in both categories in the same year.[29]
Winners for 54 non-televised awards were announced in aTikTok livestream on the red carpet, hosted by Tetris Kelly and Tiffany Taylor prior to the start of the show.[30] The rest were revealed during the live television broadcast. Rodrigo won seven awards and was the most-awarded artist at the show.[31]Drake garnered five awards, includingTop Artist, taking his total wins to 34 overall and extending his record as the most-decorated artist in BBMA history.[32] BTS won the most awards of any duo or group at the show, winning three of their seven nominations, including their thirdTop Duo/Group award which tied them withOne Direction for the most wins in that category. They also became the most-awarded group in BBMA history—12 wins overall—breaking a 17-year record previously held byDestiny's Child with 11 wins.[33] Bieber won his second award forTop Hot 100 Song, with "Stay", and became the only artist to win the award twice since it was first presented in 1990.[34] Blige was honored with the 10thBillboard Icon Award,[13] while youth activistMari Copeny (Little Miss Flint) received the third Change Maker Award in honor of her environmental advocacy efforts forFlint, Michigan.[35]
Winners are listed first and highlighted inbold.[31]