Country Makes Strong Showing At Billboard Awards

Country music was a big winner at the “2023 Billboard Music Awards” (BBMAs.) Morgan Wallen took home the most trophies of the night with 11 wins – including Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Hot 100 Song, and more. Taylor Swift took home the coveted Top Artist award and a total of 10 trophies – bringing her career total to 39 wins. She now ties Drake as the most decorated BBMA winner of all time. In Swift’s acceptance speech she said, “The fact that you guys have given me 10 Billboard Awards… I’m talking to the fans specifically, none of this happens without you. Billboard base(s) everything off of what you are listening to and what you are passionate about, and I am so honored that this year you made “The Eras Tour” so magical. You went and saw the movie, you cared about my re-recordings…I love you so much, I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have you in my corner and caring about the music that I make, so thank you, thank you, thank you, 10 million times.”

It was also a big night for Drake with 5 wins; SZA and Zach Bryan with 4 wins, and 21 Savage, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, and Miley Cyrus each with 3 wins. Plus, Anne Wilson, Arctic Monkeys, BLACKPINK, Burna Boy, CeCe Winans, Fuerza Regida, Joey Moi, Latto, Metro Boomin, NewJeans, Peso Pluma, Rema, Selena Gomez, and Stray Kids all received their first-ever win. In addition to performing, the Queen of Christmas and music icon Mariah Carey was honored with the Billboard Chart Achievement Award for the chart-topping holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which was presented to her by her children Roc and Roe.

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, BBMAs partnered with Spotify’s Fans First program, which used Spotify listener data to identify the performers’ most loyal fans and invited them to attend the intimate BBMA performances.

The top male winner of the night Morgan Wallen performed a hometown rendition of “‘98 Braves” at the Atlanta Braves’ current MLB home field, Truist Park, in Atlanta, Georgia. The energy in the audience was electric as former ‘98 Braves players were in attendance alongside many of Wallen’s biggest fans to watch the performance of the bittersweet ode. Wallen was presented his 11 BBMA trophies by former ‘98 Braves pitchers, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. In his emotional speech, Wallen shared, “You know like the song says, ‘You win some you lose some,’ the last award show I went to we came home empty-handed and this one – I don’t have enough hands for ‘em all.” Wallen ended with, “You took a boy from East Tennessee driving a two-door Toyota Tacoma and turned me into one of Billboard’s top artists so God Bless y’all.”