The most celebrated music stars came together Thursday (May 27) for the 2021 iHeartRadio Awards.
Hosted by Usher, it was an evening filled with big moments and even bigger wins. From Doja Cat slaying the red carpet with a very sheer green floor-length dress to Meghan Thee Stallion making her couples red carpet debut with beau Pardison Fontaine and Machine Gun Kelly bringing major Edward Scissorhand vibes to the red carpet with uber long nails decked out in different patterns.
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande kicked off the show with a glamorous performance of their hit collab “Save Your Tears” remix. Aside from emcee-ing the event, Usher lit up the stage with a medley of his greatest hits. Several artists also gave show-stopping performances, including Doja Cat and Silk Sonic’s Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, plus Demi Lovato, H.E.R. and Brandi Carlisle, who teamed up for a star-studded tribute for the iHeartRadio’s Icon Award winner Elton John.
One of the evening’s big winners is The Weeknd, who took home three awards – Song of The Year and TikTok Bop Of The Year for “Blinding Lights” as well as Male Artist Of The Year. Taylor Swift took home the trophy for Pop Album Of The Year for Folklore and made a virtual appearance to accept the award, where she revealed that making her eighth studio album became a “sort of emotional life raft” for her during the pandemic.
Lil Nas X and Chris Martin presented Elton John with the Icon Award – Chris made the audience laugh with his funny intro, which included a risqué joke about the Icon Awardee, while Nas was totally gushing about how much Elton was an inspiration for him. Elton reciprocated the sentiment in his acceptance speech, calling the “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” singer “a hero of mine” and describing him as a “wonderful artist” with “balls of steel.”
Check out the complete list of winners from the 2021 iHeartRadio Awards below.
Song of the Year
“Blinding Lights” – The Weeknd *WINNER*
“Circles” – Post Malone
“Don’t Start Now” – Dua Lipa
“ROCKSTAR” – DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch
“Watermelon Sugar” – Harry Styles
Female Artist of the Year
Ariana Grande
Billie Eilish
Dua Lipa *WINNER*
Megan Thee Stallion
Taylor Swift
Male Artist of the Year
Harry Styles
Justin Bieber
Post Malone
Roddy Ricch
The Weeknd *WINNER*
Best Duo/Group of the Year
BTS
Dan + Shay *WINNER*
Jonas Brothers
Maroon 5
twenty one pilots
Best Collaboration
“Go Crazy” – Chris Brown & Young Thug
“Holy” – Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper
“I Hope” – Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth
“Mood” – 24kGoldn featuring iann dior
“Savage” (Remix) – Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé *WINNER*
Best Pop Album:
Taylor Swift – folklore – WINNER
Best New Pop Artist
24kGoldn
blackbear
Doja Cat *WINNER**
JP Saxe
Pop Smoke
Alternative Rock Song of the Year
“Bang!” – AJR
“Bloody Valentine” – Machine Gun Kelly
“everything i wanted” – Billie Eilish
“Level Of Concern” – twenty one pilots *WINNER*
“Monsters” – All Time Low featuring blackbear
Alternative Rock Artist of the Year:
AJR
All Time Low
Billie Eilish
Cage the Elephant
twenty one pilots *WINNER*
Alternative Rock Album of the Year:
Machine Gun Kelly – Tickets To My Downfall *WINNER*
Best New Rock/Alternative Rock Artist
Ashe
Dayglow
Powfu *WINNER*
Royal & The Serpent
Wallows
Rock Song of the Year
“Death By Rock And Roll” – The Pretty Reckless
“Patience” – Chris Cornell
“Shame Shame” – Foo Fighters *WINNER*
“Shot In The Dark” – AC/DC
“Under The Graveyard” – Ozzy Osbourne
Rock Artist of the Year
AC/DC
Five Finger Death Punch
Ozzy Osbourne
Shinedown
The Pretty Reckless *WINNER*
Rock Album of the Year:
AD/DC – Power Up *WINNER*
Country Song of the Year
“Even Though I’m Leaving” – Luke Combs
“I Hope” – Gabby Barrett
“Nobody But You” – Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani
“One Margarita” – Luke Bryan
“The Bones” – Maren Morris *WINNER*
Country Artist of the Year
Blake Shelton
Luke Bryan
Luke Combs *WINNER*
Maren Morris
Thomas Rhett
Country Album of the Year:
Luke Combs – What You See Ain’t Always What You Get *WINNER*
Best New Country Artist
Ashley McBryde
Gabby Barrett *WINNER*
HARDY
Ingrid Andress
Jameson Rodgers
Dance Song of the Year
“Head & Heart” – Joel Corry x MNEK
“ily (i love you baby)” – Surf Mesa featuring Emilee
“Lasting Lover” – Sigala & James Arthur
“Rain On Me” – Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
“Roses” (Imanbek Remix) – SAINt JHN – *WINNER*
Dance Artist of the Year
Anabel Englund
Diplo
Marshmello *WINNER*
Surf Mesa
Tiësto
Dance Album of the Year:
Diplo – Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil *WINNER*
Hip-Hop Song of the Year
“High Fashion” – Roddy Ricch featuring Mustard
“Life Is Good” – Future featuring Drake
“ROCKSTAR” – DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch
“Savage” (Remix) – Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé
“The Box” – Roddy Ricch – *WINNER*
Hip-Hop Artist of the Year
DaBaby
Lil Baby
Megan Thee Stallion
Pop Smoke
Roddy Ricch *WINNER*
Best New Hip-Hop Artist
Jack Harlow
Moneybagg Yo
Pop Smoke
Rod Wave
Roddy Ricch *WINNER*
Hip-Hop Album of the Year:
Lil Baby – My Turn *WINNER*
R&B Song of the Year
“B.S.” – Jhené Aiko featuring H.E.R.
“Go Crazy” – Chris Brown & Young Thug *WINNER*
“Heat” Chris Brown featuring Gunna
“Playing Games” – Summer Walker
“Slide” – H.E.R. featuring YG
R&B Artist of the Year
Chris Brown
H.E.R. *WINNER*
Jhené Aiko
Snoh Aalegra
Summer Walker
Best New R&B Artist
Chloe x Halle
Lonr.
Mahalia
Skip Marley
Snoh Aalegra *WINNER*
R&B Album of the Year
Jhene Aiko – Chilombo *WINNER*
Latin Pop/Reggaeton Song of the Year
“Caramelo” – Ozuna
“Dákiti” – Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez
“Hawái” (Remix) – Maluma & The Weeknd
“RITMO (Bad Boys For Life)” – Black Eyed Peas & J Balvin
“Tusa” – KAROL G & Nicki Minaj – *WINNER*
Latin Pop/Reggaeton Artist of the Year
Bad Bunny
J Balvin *WINNER*
KAROL G
Maluma
Ozuna
Best New Latin Artist
Chesca
Jay Wheeler
Natanael Cano
Neto Bernal
Rauw Alejandro *WINNER**
Regional Mexican Song of the Year
“Palabra De Hombre” – El Fantasma
“Se Me Olvidó” – Christian Nodal – *WINNER*
“Sólo Tú” – Calibre 50
“Te Volvería A Elegir” – Calibre 50
“Yo Ya No Vuelvo Contigo” – Lenin Ramírez featuring Grupo Firme
Regional Mexican Artist of the Year
Banda Los Sebastianes
Calibre 50
Christian Nodal – *WINNER*
Edwin Luna y La Trakalosa de Monterrey
Gerardo Ortíz
Producer of the Year
Andrew Watt
Dr Luke
Frank Dukes
Louis Bell
Max Martin – *WINNER*
Songwriter of the Year
Ali Tamposi
Amy Allen
Ashley Gorley – *WINNER*
Dan Nigro
Finneas
Best Lyrics (Socially Voted Category)
“Adore You” – Harry Styles *WINNER*
“Before You Go” – Lewis Capaldi
“Blinding Lights” – The Weeknd
“cardigan” – Taylor Swift
“Don’t Start Now” – Dua Lipa
“everything i wanted” – Billie Eilish
“I Hope” – Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth
“If The World Was Ending” – JP Saxe featuring Julia Michaels
“Intentions” – Justin Bieber featuring Quavo
“Life Is Good” – Future featuring Drake
Best Cover Song (Socially Voted Category)
“Adore You” (Harry Styles) – Lizzo cover *WINNER*
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (Frankie Valli) – Shawn Mendes cover
“Fix You” (Coldplay) – Sam Smith cover
“Heart Of Glass” (Blondie) – Miley Cyrus cover
“Juice” (Lizzo) – Harry Styles cover
Best Fan Army (Socially Voted Category)
#Agnation – Agnez Mo
#Arianators – Ariana Grande
#Beliebers – Justin Bieber
#BLINK – BLACKPINK
#BTSARMY – BTS *WINNER*
#Harries – Harry Styles
#Limelights – Why Don’t We
#Louies – Louis Tomlinson
#MendesArmy – Shawn Mendes
#NCTzens – NCT 127
#Selenators – Selena Gomez
#Swifties – Taylor Swift
Best Music Video (Socially Voted Category)
“Blinding Lights” – The Weeknd
“Don’t Start Now” – Dua Lipa
“Dynamite” – BTS *WINNER*
“Hawái” – Maluma
“How You Like That” – BLACKPINK
“Life Is Good” – Future featuring Drake
“Rain On Me” – Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
“WAP” – Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion
“Watermelon Sugar” – Harry Styles
“Yummy” – Justin Bieber
Social Star Award (Socially Voted Category)
Dixie D’Amelio
Jaden Hossler
LILHUDDY
Nessa Barrett
Olivia Rodrigo *WINNER*
Tate McRae
Favorite Music Video Choreography (Socially Voted Category)
BTS – Son Sung Deuk – *WINNER*
“34+35” (Ariana Grande) – Scott & Brian Nicholson
“Do It” (Chloe x Halle) – Kendra Bracy & Ashanti Ledon
“Honey Boo” (CNCO & Natti Natasha) – Kyle Hanagami
“Physical” (Dua Lipa) – Charm La’Donna
“Rain On Me” (Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande) – Richy Jackson
“Say So” (Doja Cat) – Cortland Brown
WAP” (Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion) – JaQuel Knight
“Bop” (DaBaby) – Coach Cherry & DaniLeigh
TikTok Bop of the Year (Socially Voted Category) *New Category!
“Blinding Lights” – The Weeknd *WINNER*
“Lottery (Renegade)” – K CAMP
“Savage” – Megan Thee Stallion
“Savage Love” (Laxed-Siren Beat) – Jawsh 685, Jason Derulo
“Say So” – Doja Cat
“WAP” – Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion
Congratulations to all the winners!
