2013 American Music Awards: Big Wins For Taylor Swift And Justin Timberlake With Rihanna Receiving Special Honour
The American Music Awards is quickly becoming one of the most important music award ceremonies on the calendar year and this past Sunday (Nov 23rd) just proved why. The 2013 AMA's, which took place at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre, boosted one of the hottest red carpets ever as showbiz heavyweights arrived in full force.
The 41st annual award show, hosted by 'Mr Worldwide' aka Pitbull, saw HIP-HOP ACT Macklemore & Ryan Lewis being the night with most nominations (6), but they didn't leave the big winners on this night.
Taylor Swift was nominated for 5 awards and left the Nokia Theatre winning 4 of them, giving her the most awards out of any artist. The 23 year-old won, which was voted for by the fans, 'Favourite Country Album', 'Favourite Country Female Artist', 'Favourite Pop/rock female artist' and she was also honoured with the 'Artist of the Year'.
Swift's 4th studio album 'Red', is the reason she won half of the awards and when receiving the accolades the 'I Knew You Were Trouble' singer made sure she thanked her fans. "'Red' is very different than any album I've made before and the reason I was able to do that was because of the fans," Swift said. "I cannot believe what you've done in the last year. This album came out almost exactly a year ago and the fact that 6 million of you went out and bought it is crazy."
The man who is responsible for one of music's greatest comebacks, Justin Timberlake, also had a busy night. The 32 year-old took home three awards, for the 'Favourite Pop/Rock Male Artist' and 'Favourite Soul/R&B Male Artist', as well as 'Favourite Soul/R&B album' for the hit maker 'The 20/20 Experience'.
Rihanna was also one of the highlights of the evening as she won the first ever AMA Icon Award and although the 25 year-old has legions of fans worldwide, she brought her mother on stage to receive the accolade. Mama Fenty proudly gushed, "Rihanna, I am so proud of you tonight. I know the journey in your career has not always been an easy one, but I applaud and admire you for being so strong and so positive and so humble and so focused, It's amazing how you always manage to take good from all your experiences. I'm so blessed to be a part of this historic moment!"
Rihanna even received a special video message from the godfather of hip-hop himself, Jay Z, the music mogul told the Barbadian singer, "It's with a great honor and incredible pride that I present you with this first ever AMA icon award!"
See the full list of all the AMA award winners on the next page.
2013 41st Annual American Music Award winners list:
Artist of the Year - Taylor Swift
Kohl's New Artist of the Year - Ariana Grande
Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist - Justin Timberlake
Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist - Taylor Swift
Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group - One Direction
Favorite Pop/Rock Album - Take Me Home by One Direction
Favourite Country Male Artist - Luke Bryan
Favorite Country Female Artist - Taylor Swift
Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group - Lady Antebellum
Favorite Country Album - Red by Taylor Swift
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album - The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist - Justin Timberlake
Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist - Rihanna
Favorite Soul/R&B Album - The 20/20 Experience by Justin Timberlake
Favorite Alternative Artist - Imagine Dragons
Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist - Bruno Mars
Favorite Latin Artist - Marc Anthony
Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist - Matthew West
Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist - Avicii
Single of the Year - 'Cruise' by Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly
Favorite Soundtrack - Pitch Perfect by Various artists
Icon Award 2013 - Rihanna