Megagroup BTS wins Artist of the Year at AMAs 2026
What's the story
The 2026 American Music Awards (AMAs) took place on Monday night, with several artists bagging top honors. K-pop sensation BTS won the coveted Artist of the Year award for a second time overall. Despite being on hiatus for military service, they beat out other nominees, including Taylor Swift, in this fan-voted category. They had previously won this in 2021. The New Artist of the Year award went to KATSEYE.
Pop triumphs
Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber took home best pop artist awards
BTS's hit single SWIM won the Song of the Summer award, while Katseye's Gnarly bagged the Best Music Video award. The septet was also adjudged the best male K-pop artist. In the pop categories, Justin Bieber was named Best Male Pop Artist and Sabrina Carpenter won Best Female Pop Artist. The singing voices of HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami won Best Pop Song for Golden and Carpenter took home Best Pop Album for her album Man's Best Friend.
Rock/Alternative success
Sombr, Kendrick, Cardi B excelled in rock and hip-hop categories
Despite missing out on the New Artist of the Year award, Sombr had a successful night at the AMAs. Sombr won Best Rock/Alternative Song for Back to Friends and Best Rock/Alternative Album for I Barely Know Her. Off-air, he also won the Breakthrough Rock/Alternative Artist trophy. In the hip-hop categories, Kendrick Lamar was named Best Male Hip-Hop Artist while Cardi B took home both Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and Best Hip-Hop Album for AM I THE DRAMA?.
R&B winners
SZA, Bruno Mars named Best R&B Artists; Shakira also honored
Bruno Mars was named Best Male R&B Artist at the 2026 AMAs, while SZA took home the award for Best Female R&B Artist. Leon Thomas was recognized as the Breakthrough R&B Artist. In the Latin categories, Bad Bunny won Best Male Latin Artist and Shakira was named Best Female Latin Artist. The duo Fuerza Regida won Best Latin Duo or Group.
Other winners
Other notable winners at the American Music Awards
David Guetta was named Best Dance/Electronic Artist at the 2026 AMAs. In the Americana/Folk categories, Noah Kahan was recognized as Best Americana/Folk Artist. The AMAs are one of the biggest nights in music, with awards presented to artists based on fan votes. Multiple artists tied for the most number of trophies (three) this year: BTS, KATSEYE, Sombr, Carpenter, Cardi B, Mars, and the singing voices of Huntr/X.