American Music Awards

Conception

The AMAs was created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammy Awards after the move of that year's show to Nashville, Tennessee led to CBS picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast on ABC. In 2014, American network Telemundo acquired the rights to produce a Spanish-language version of the American Music Awards and launched the Latin American Music Awards in 2015.^[3][4]

While the Grammy Awards are awarded based on votes by members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the AMAs are determined by a poll of music buyers and the public. The American Music Awards have nominations based on sales, airplay, activity on social networks, and video viewing. Before 2010 had nominations 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.^[5][6][7]

Hosts

The first hosts for the first telecast of the AMAs were Helen Reddy, Roger Miller, and Smokey Robinson. Helen Reddy not only hosted the show but also became the first female artist to win an AMA for Favorite Pop/Rock Female artist. For the first decade or so, the AMAs had multiple hosts, each representing a genre of music. For instance, Glen Campbell would host the country portion (Campbell, in fact, has co-hosted the AMAs more times than any other host or co-host), while other artists would co-host to represent his/her genre. In recent years, however, there has been one single host.

In 1991, Keenen Ivory Wayans became the first Hollywood actor to host the AMAs.

From its inception in 1973 until 2003, the AMAs have been held in mid- to late-January, but were moved to November (usually the Sunday before Thanksgiving) beginning in 2003 so as not to further compete with other major awards shows (such as the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards) and allows for ABC to have a well-rated awards show during November sweeps.

For the 2008 awards, Jimmy Kimmel hosted for the fourth consecutive year. In 2009–2012, there was no host for the first time in history. Instead, the AMAs followed the Grammys' lead in having various celebrities give introductions. However, rapper Pitbull hosted the 2013 ceremony and 2014 ceremony. Jennifer Lopez hosted the 2015 show.^[8] Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharoah hosted the 2016 show. Tracee Ellis Ross hosted the show in 2017 and 2018.

Between 2012 and 2014, as part of a marketing strategy for Samsung, the American Music Awards used the lock screen wallpaper of Samsung Galaxy smartphones rather than envelopes to reveal winners. A magnetic 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 with YouTube Music.^[10]

Current award categories

Past award categories

Most wins in a single ceremony

The record for the most American Music Awards won in a single year is held by Michael Jackson (in 1984) and Whitney Houston (in 1994), each with 8 awards to their credit (including the Award of Merit, with which both artists were honored in the respective years).

• Michael Jackson 8 (1984)
• Whitney Houston 8 (1994)

Most wins by category

The following list shows the artists with most wins in each category, adapted from the AMAs official website.^[13]

• Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift (4 wins)
• Song of the Year: Kenny Rogers (5 wins)

The Song of the Year record holder accounts for all previous single category winners.

• Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock: (Tie) Barry Manilow, Eric Clapton, Michael Bolton, Michael Jackson and Justin Bieber (3 wins each)
• Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock: (Tie) Olivia Newton-John and Whitney Houston (4 wins each)
• Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock: (Tie) Aerosmith, The Black Eyed Peas, Hall & Oates and One Direction (3 wins each)
• Favorite Album – Pop/Rock: Michael Jackson and Justin Bieber (3 wins)
• Favorite Male Artist – Country: Garth Brooks (8 wins)
• Favorite Female Artist – Country: Reba McEntire (10 wins)
• Favorite Duo or Group – Country: Alabama (17 wins)
• Favorite Album – Country: Kenny Rogers, Carrie Underwood (5 wins)
• Favorite Artist – Rap/Hip-Hop: Eminem (4 wins)

The Favorite Artist – Rap/Hip-Hop record holder accounts for all previous Favorite Female Artist – Rap/Hip-Hop and Favorite Male Artist – Rap/Hip-Hop category winners.

• Favorite Album – Rap/Hip-Hop: Nicki Minaj (3 wins)
• Favorite Male Artist – Soul/R&B: Luther Vandross (7 wins)
• Favorite Female Artist – Soul/R&B: Rihanna (7 wins)
• Favorite Album – Soul/R&B: Michael Jackson (4 wins)
• Favorite Artist – Alternative Rock: Linkin Park (6 wins)
• Favorite Artist – Adult Contemporary: Celine Dion (4 wins)
• Favorite Artist – Latin Music: Enrique Iglesias (7 wins)
• Favorite Artist – Contemporary Inspirational: Casting Crowns (4 wins)
• Favorite Artist – Electronic Dance Music: (Tie) Calvin Harris and The Chainsmokers (2 wins each)

Award of Merit

The American Music Award of Merit has been awarded to thirty two artists, the latest being Sting (2016).^[14]

International Artist Award of Excellence

The International Artist Award of Excellence has been awarded to seven artists:^[15]

• Michael Jackson (1993)
• Rod Stewart (1994)
• Led Zeppelin (1995)
• Bee Gees (1997)
• Aerosmith (2001)
• Beyoncé (2007)
• Whitney Houston (2009)

Icon Award

The AMAs' producer Larry Klein stated: "The first-ever Icon Award was created to honor an artist whose body of work has made a profound influence over pop music on a global level."^[16]

• Rihanna (2013)

Dick Clark Award for Excellence

At the 2014 award ceremony, the Dick Clark Award for Excellence was given for the first time.^[17]

• Taylor Swift (2014)

Award of Achievement

• Michael Jackson (1989)
• Prince (1990)
• Mariah Carey (2000 and 2008)
• Katy Perry (2011)

Lifetime Achievement Award

• Diana Ross (2017)

Artist of the Decade

• 90s: Garth Brooks (2000)^[18][19]

In 2000, the year Brooks won the award, the AMAs held a poll to elect the Artist of the Decade for each previous decade of the Rock & Roll era. According to some sources, the result of this poll is not counted in the total of AMAs won by these artists.^[20][21][22] The results were Elvis Presley (1950s), The Beatles (60s), Stevie Wonder (70s) and Michael Jackson (80s).