The iHeartRadio Music Awards celebrated its 9th annual edition the past March 23rd. Held in Los Angeles with LL Cool J as a host, the Shrine Auditorium was filled with artists coming together to honour this year’s music. The unforgettable night celebrated the current stars of the music industry and their fans with multiple awards and performances.
These show-stopping acts included Megan Thee Stallion, Jason Aldean, Måneskin, Jennifer Lopez, and LL Cool J. John Legend and Charlie Puth also teamed up to sing each other’s songs facing pianos. This pair was one of the great hits of the night.
Another stellar moment was when Jennifer Lopez became the third recipient of the ICON award. This recognition was invented in 2018 and first given to Elton John, as a way of honouring some of the most impactful artists of our time. This year, JLo used this award as an opportunity to spread positivity and strength to her fans. Her acceptance speech suggested that, in her case, “ICON’’ stands for “I can overcome negativity – every single moment, and so can you.”
The biggest category of the event, song of the year, was awarded to “Levitating” by Dua Lipa. Even though she was not present to accept, the audience still got to see other major winners of the night. Olivia Rodrigo was named female artist of the year, while Silk Sonic won for best duo/group. Lil Nas X was the winner in the male artist category and shared a heartwarming acceptance speech with the viewers. He reflected on how “delusional” he was to have made some decisions in his career but concluded that “It’s OK to be delusional when you’re chasing your dreams”.
In every show, there are many new winners, while some get honoured in the same category more than once. In this edition of the awards, Luke Combs and Drake received their fourth win for country and hip-hop artist of the year, respectively. Rock artist of the year was once again taken by Foo Fighters, while Bad Bunny won Latin pop/reggaeton artist of the year for the second time.
The new artist awards were presented for seven genres, including pop, alternative, rock, country, hip-hop, R&B and Latin. This year’s show also included tour of the year, which was given to Harry Styles after being suspended during the pandemic.
This spectacular evening was full of many more memorable wins. There were socially voted categories, two of which were won by BTS, as well as exciting new categories like TikTok Bop of the Year. For the full list of winners, you can visit the iHeartRadio Music Awards website.
Bibliography
Centeno, T. M. (2022, March 23). The Best Moments From The 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards | iHeartRadio | iHeartRadio Music Awards. iHeart News. Retrieved from https://news.iheart.com/featured/iheartradio-music-awards/content/2022-03-22-the-best-moments-from-the-2022-iheartradio-music-awards/
Centeno, T. M. (2022, March 22). 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards: See The Full List Of Winners | iHeartRadio | iHeartRadio Music Awards. iHeart News. Retrieved from https://news.iheart.com/featured/iheartradio-music-awards/content/2022-03-22-2022-iheartradio-music-awards-see-the-full-list-of-winners/
Grein, P. (2022, March 23). Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo & Lil Nas X Are Top Winners at 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards: Full Winners List. Billboard. Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/2022-iheartradio-music-awards-winners-dua-lipa-olivia-rodrigo-1235047610/