| American Music Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current:American Music Awards of 2025 | |
 Logo since 2019 | |
| Awarded for | Outstanding achievements in the music industry |
| Country | United States |
| First award | February 19, 1974; 51 years ago (1974-02-19) |
| Website | theamas.com |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | ABC (1974–2022) CBS (2025) |
| Produced by | Dick Clark Productions |
TheAmerican Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced byDick Clark Productions since 1974.[1] Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and fans who vote through the AMAs website.[2]
The event originally aired onABC after the network's contract to air theGrammy Awards expired. After the 2022 ceremony, when ABC's rights to broadcast the ceremony expired, the American Music Awards were put on hiatus. In March 2024, it was announced that the AMAs would move toCBS as part of a deal with its rights to broadcast the now DCP-ownedGolden Globe Awards. The event remained on hiatus for 2024, with CBS airing a 50th anniversary special in October 6, ahead of a 2025 return, which was held on May 26, and hosted byJennifer Lopez.
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The AMAs was created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammy Awards after the move of that year's show toNashville, Tennessee led toCBS (which has broadcast all Grammy Award shows since then) picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast onABC. In 2014, American networkTelemundo acquired the rights to produce a Spanish-language version of the American Music Awards and launched theLatin American Music Awards in 2015.[3]
Nominations are selected based on commercial performance, such as sales and airplay. Winners have been determined by a poll of the public and fans, who can vote through the AMAs website, while nominations have remained based on sales, airplay, now including activity on social networks, and video viewing. Before 2010, nominations were based only on sales and airplay and nominated every work, even if old. The Grammys have nominations based on vote of the Academy and only nominate a work from their eligibility period that changes often.[4]
The award statuette is manufactured by New York firmSociety Awards.[5]
The hosts for the first AMAs wereHelen Reddy,Roger Miller, andSmokey Robinson. Reddy not only hosted the show but also became the first artist to win an AMA for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist.[6] For the first two decades, the AMAs had multiple hosts, each representing a genre of music. For instance,Glen Campbell, who co-hosted the AMAs five times, would host the country portion, while other artists would co-host to represent their genre. In recent years, however, there has been a single host.
In 1991,Keenen Ivory Wayans became the first Hollywood actor to host the AMAs.
The first two AMAs in 1974 and 1975 and the 1994 ceremony were held in February, but from 1976 to 1993 and 1995 through early 2003, the AMAs were held in mid- to late-January, but were moved to November (usually the Sunday before Thanksgiving) beginning in late 2003 so it would prevent the ceremony to further compete with other major awards shows (such as theGolden Globe Awards and theAcademy Awards) and allows for ABC to have a well-rated awards show during November sweeps.
For the 2008 awards,Jimmy Kimmel hosted for his fifth year, tying withGlen Campbell for the most AMAs hosted or co-hosted. From 2009–2012, there was no host. Instead, the AMAs followed the Grammys' lead in having various celebrities give introductions. However, rapperPitbull hosted the ceremony in 2013 and 2014.Jennifer Lopez hosted in 2015.[7]Gigi Hadid andJay Pharoah hosted in 2016.Tracee Ellis Ross hosted in 2017 and 2018.Ciara hosted in 2019.[8]
Between 2012 and 2014, the American Music Awards used thelock screenwallpaper ofSamsung Galaxysmartphones rather than envelopes to reveal winners, as part of a sponsorship bySamsung Electronics. Amagnetic screen cover on each phone kept the wallpaper image with the winner's name secret until opened.[9]
In August 2018, Dick Clark Productions announced a two-year sponsorship and content partnership withYouTube Music. However, this partnership seemingly lasted only for the2018 ceremony, as there was no mention of it during the2019 show.[10]
In March 2023, it was announced that theBillboard Music Awards, which are also produced by DCP via co-ownedBillboard, had been moved from May to the November scheduling that was typically occupied by the American Music Awards, leading to speculation that the AMAs would be discontinued in order to focus on theBillboard Music Awards, or at the very least cancelled for 2023, so it could move to May in its place. It was reported that the broadcast rights for both events (which had been held by NBC and ABC respectively) would also be shopped; theBillboard Music Awards moved to an online-only format in November 2023.[11]
In March 2024, it was announced thatCBS had acquired the rights to broadcast the AMAs under a deal of unspecified length. The rights were bundled with CBS's five-year agreement to televise theGolden Globe Awards, whose telecast has historically been produced by DCP, and whose assets had been acquired by DCP in 2023.[12][13]
In August 2024, it was announced that the AMAs would return in May 2025. In lieu of a 2024 ceremony, DCP also announced that CBS would broadcast an American Music Awards 50th anniversary special on October 6, 2024, featuring performances and retrospectives paying tribute to its history and memorable moments.[14][15] Ratings for the special were up from the last ceremony aired on ABC, with an average of 6.1 million viewers.[16] In February 2025, it was announced that the 51st American Music Awards would be held on May 26, 2025.[16] In August 2025, CBS renewed its rights to broadcast the AMAs under a five-year agreement similar to that of the Golden Globe Awards; the ceremony will supplant the Grammy Awards on CBS's lineup after they move to ABC in 2027.[17]
The record for most American Music Awards won is held byTaylor Swift with 40 awards.[18] The record for most American Music Awards won by a male artist belongs toMichael Jackson, who has collected 26 awards.[19] The record for most American Music Awards won by a group belongs toAlabama, who have collected 18 awards.[20]
| Rank | Artist | Number of awards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Swift | 40 |
| 2 | Michael Jackson | 26 |
| 3 | Whitney Houston | 22 |
| 4 | Kenny Rogers | 19 |
| 5 | Alabama | 18 |
| Justin Bieber | ||
| 6 | Carrie Underwood | 17 |
| Garth Brooks | ||
| 7 | Bruno Mars | 14 |
| Reba McEntire | ||
| 8 | Rihanna | 13 |
| Janet Jackson | ||
| Beyoncé | ||
| 9 | Stevie Wonder | 11 |
| BTS |
The record for the most American Music Awards won in a single year is held by Michael Jackson (in 1984) andWhitney Houston (in 1994), each with 8 awards to their credit (including theAward of Merit, with which both artists were honored in the respective years).
The following list shows the artists with most wins in each category, adapted from the AMAs official website.[21]
The American Music Award of Merit has been awarded to 32 artists, the latest beingSting (2016).[22]
The International Artist Award of Excellence is described as "an award which recognizes artists whose popularity and impact cross national boundaries and is only given when there is a deserving recipient who is worthy of recognition for their accomplishments" and has been awarded to seven artists:[23]
TheIcon Award was introduced in the 2013 ceremony, producer Larry Klein stated that the award was created "to honor an artist whose body of work has made a profound influence over pop music on a global level."[24]
At the 2014 award ceremony, the Dick Clark Award for Excellence was given.[26] It was created to recognize "an artist who achieves a groundbreaking feat or creates a landmark work."[27]
In 2000, the AMAs held a poll to elect the Artist of the Decade for each previous decade of the Rock and Roll era. According to some sources, the result of this poll is not counted in the total of AMAs won by these artists.[31][32][33] The results were:
In 2002,Michael Jackson received the Artist of the Century award due to his “unparalleled influence and impact on the music industry”.[34]
At the 2025 ceremony (which was held on Memorial Day), The Veterans Voice Award was given. It recognizes Artist who have impacted veterans and their families through their music and platform.
| Year | Day | Date | Household rating | 18–49 rating | Viewers (in millions) | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | Share | Rating | Share | |||||
| 1974 | Tuesday | February 19 | 26.0 | 38 | 39.76 | [35] | ||
| 1975 | February 18 | 21.3 | 32 | 32.21 | [35] | |||
| 1976 | Saturday | January 31 | 20.5 | 39 | 30.02 | [35] | ||
| 1977 | Monday | January 31 | 24.1 | 36 | 37.25 | [35] | ||
| 1978 | January 16 | 25.9 | 38 | 41.86 | [35] | |||
| 1979 | Friday | January 12 | 22.8 | 35 | 33.57 | [35] | ||
| 1980 | January 18 | 17.3 | 28 | 26.03 | [35] | |||
| 1981 | January 30 | 14.4 | 22 | 18.91 | [35] | |||
| 1982 | Monday | January 25 | 21.5 | 32 | 33.43 | [35] | ||
| 1983 | January 17 | 24.4 | 36 | 36.17 | [35] | |||
| 1984 | January 16 | 27.4 | 41 | 47.11 | [35] | |||
| 1985 | January 28 | 25.8 | 37 | 48.16 | [35] | |||
| 1986 | January 27 | 20.4 | 30 | 33.18 | [35] | |||
| 1987 | January 26 | 22.2 | 32 | 39.30 | [35] | |||
| 1988 | January 25 | 18.1 | 35 | 28.41 | [35] | |||
| 1989 | January 30 | 21.0 | 32 | 32.95 | [35] | |||
| 1990 | January 22 | 20.0 | 30 | 32.43 | [35] | |||
| 1991 | January 28 | 20.4 | 31 | 34.37 | [35] | |||
| 1992 | January 27 | 18.3 | 28 | 29.93 | [35] | |||
| 1993 | January 25 | 21.6 | 33 | 35.03 | [35] | |||
| 1994 | February 7 | 16.0 | 24 | 24.52 | [35] | |||
| 1995 | January 30 | 15.4 | 23 | 24.51 | [35] | |||
| 1996 | January 29 | 13.8 | 21 | 21.57 | [35] | |||
| 1997 | January 27 | 13.2 | 21 | 19.72 | [35] | |||
| 1998 | January 26 | 12.1 | 19 | 8.1 | 20 | 18.36 | [35][36] | |
| 1999 | January 11 | 10.3 | 16 | 15.60 | [35] | |||
| 2000 | January 17 | 10.4 | 16 | 7.2 | 17 | 16.68 | [35][37] | |
| 2001 | January 8 | 10.4 | 16 | 7.3 | 17 | 16.20 | [35][38] | |
| 2002 | Wednesday | January 9 | 9.9 | 16 | 7.3 | 18 | 16.02 | [35][39] |
| 2003 | Monday | January 13 | 8.4 | 12 | 5.7 | 13 | 12.90 | [40][41] |
| 2003 | Sunday | November 16 | 8.1 | 12 | 5.5 | 13 | 12.77 | [42][40] |
| 2004 | November 14 | 7.9 | 12 | 5.7 | 13 | 12.90 | [42][40] | |
| 2005 | Tuesday | November 22 | 7.4 | 11 | 4.4 | 11 | 11.68 | [42][40] |
| 2006 | November 21 | 7.0 | 11 | 4.7 | 13 | 10.85 | [42][40] | |
| 2007 | Sunday | November 18 | 7.4 | 11 | 4.8 | 12 | 11.81 | [42][40] |
| 2008 | November 23 | 7.3 | 11 | 5.1 | 12 | 12.20 | [42][40] | |
| 2009 | November 22 | 8.6 | 14 | 5.5 | 14 | 14.24 | [42][40] | |
| 2010 | November 21 | 6.7 | 11 | 4.3 | 10 | 11.72 | [42][40] | |
| 2011 | November 20 | 6.8 | 10 | 4.3 | 10 | 12.07 | [42][40] | |
| 2012 | November 18 | 5.5 | 8 | 3.4 | 8 | 9.52 | [42][40] | |
| 2013 | November 24 | 7.6 | 11 | 4.5 | 11 | 13.14 | [42][40] | |
| 2014 | November 23 | 6.6 | 11 | 3.8 | 10 | 11.61 | [42][40] | |
| 2015 | November 22 | 6.3 | 10 | 3.5 | 10 | 11.01 | [42][40] | |
| 2016 | November 20 | 4.7 | 8 | 2.4 | 7 | 8.18 | [43] | |
| 2017 | November 19 | 5.2 | 9 | 2.4 | 8 | 9.15 | [44] | |
| 2018 | Tuesday | October 9 | 4.1 | 8 | 1.8 | 8 | 6.59 | [45] |
| 2019 | Sunday | November 24 | 3.9 | 8 | 1.7 | 7 | 6.68 | [46] |
| 2020 | November 22 | 2.4 | 5 | 1.0 | 6 | 4.01 | [47] | |
| 2021 | November 21 | 1.0 | 7 | 4.01 | [48] | |||
| 2022 | November 20 | 2.0 | 5 | 0.6 | 5 | 3.53 | [49][50] | |
| 2025 | Monday | May 26 | 2.8 | 10 | 0.8 | 11 | 4.86 | [51] |
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