Taylor Swift, Drake, Post Malone, Ariana Grande and Halsey led the way at the 2019 American Music Awards nominations with their bids for Artist of the Year. The contenders in all categories were announced on Thursday morning, October 24, exactly one month ahead of the November 24 telecast when the winners will be revealed. These prizes are awarded to the year’s most popular music as decided by fans across a wide variety of genres. Scroll down to see the complete list of contenders.
Swift holds the record for the most victories for Artist of the Year. She has prevailed four times out of five nominations (2009, 2011, 2013 and 2018). The only time she ever lost was in 2015 when the award went to the now-disbanded group One Direction. Can anyone stop her from repeating? Her nominations this year also include Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, Favorite Female Artist (Pop/Rock) and Favorite Album (Pop/Rock) for “Lover.”
The only other nominee who has won the top prize before is Grande, who prevailed in 2016. The only other time she made the AMAs’ top five was in 2015 when she, like Swift, was bested by One Direction. So this is the first time Swift and Grande will go head-to-head without that interloping boy band in the mix.
Drake is nominated for the fourth time for Artist of the Year, but he has yet to win. He previously lost to Justin Bieber (2012), Bruno Mars (2017) and Swift (2018). However, Drake is between albums this year, and he has no songs nominated, so his only other AMA bids are Favorite Male Artist (Pop/Rock) and Favorite Artist (Hip-Hop).
Post Malone is nominated for the second year in a row, and he’s also up for numerous other awards including Favorite Male Artist (Pop/Rock), Favorite Artist (Hip-Hop), Favorite Album (Hip-Hop) for “Hollywood’s Bleeding” and Favorite Collaboration (“Sunflower” with Swae Lee from the “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” soundtrack).
That leaves Halsey, the lone newcomer to the top category. Her hit “Without Me” is also in the running for Favorite Song (Pop/Rock) and Favorite Music Video.
Who else made the cut at the 2019 AMAs? Find out below.
Artist of the Year
Taylor Swift
Drake
Post Malone
Ariana Grande
Halsey
New Artist of the Year
Luke Combs
Billie Eilish
Lizzo
Ella Mai
Lil Nas X
Collaboration of the Year
“Happier” — Marshmello and Bastille
“Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
“Senorita” — Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
“Shallow” — Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
“Sunflower” — Post Malone and Swae Lee
Tour of the Year
Ariana Grande
BTS
Ed Sheeran
Elton John
Pink
Favorite Music Video
“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish
“Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
“7 Rings” — Ariana Grande
“Without Me” — Halsey
“You Need to Calm Down” — Taylor Swift
Favorite Social Artist
Ariana Grande
Billie Eilish
BTS
EXO
Shawn Mendes
POP/ROCK
Favorite Female Artist (Pop/Rock)
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift
Favorite Male Artist (Pop/Rock)
Drake
Khalid
Post Malone
Favorite Duo or Group (Pop/Rock)
BTS
Jonas Brothers
Panic! at the Disco
Favorite Album (Pop/Rock)
“When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” — Billie Eilish
“Thank U, Next” — Ariana Grande
“Lover” — Taylor Swift
Favorite Song (Pop/Rock)
“Without Me” — Halsey
“Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
“Sucker” — Jonas Brothers
“High Hopes” — Panic! At The Disco
“Sunflower” — Post Malone featuring Swae Lee
COUNTRY
Favorite Female Artist (Country)
Carrie Underwood
Kelsea Ballerini
Maren Morris
Favorite Male Artist (Country)
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett
Favorite Duo or Group (Country)
Dan and Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion
Favorite Album (Country)
“Cry Pretty” — Carrie Underwood
“Dan and Shay” — Dan and Shay
“Experiment” — Kane Brown
Favorite Song (Country)
“Beautiful Crazy” — Luke Combs
“God’s Country” — Blake Shelton
“Speechless” — Dan and Shay
RAP/HIP-HOP
Favorite Artist (Rap/Hip-Hop)
Cardi B
Drake
Post Malone
Favorite Album (Rap/Hip-Hop)
“Astroworld” — Travis Scott
“Championships” — Meek Mill
“Hollywood’s Bleeding” — Post Malone
Favorite Song (Rap/Hip-Hop)
“Old Town Road” — Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
“Wow” — Post Malone
“Sicko Mode” — Travis Scott
SOUL/R&B
Favorite Female Artist (Soul/R&B)
Beyonce
Lizzo
Ella Mai
Favorite Male Artist (Soul/R&B)
Chris Brown
Khalid
Bruno Mars
Favorite Album (Soul/R&B)
“Ella Mai” — Ella Mai
“Free Spirit” — Khalid
“Indigo” — Chris Brown
Favorite Song (Soul/R&B)
“Juice” — Lizzo
“Talk” — Khalid
“Trip” — Ella Mai
OTHER GENRES
Favorite Artist (Adult Contemporary)
Maroon 5
Pink
Taylor Swift
Favorite Artist (Alternative Rock)
Billie Eilish
Imagine Dragons
Panic! at the Disco
Favorite Artist (Contemporary Inspirational)
For King and Country
Lauren Daigle
MercyMe
Favorite Artist (EDM)
Avicii
The Chainsmokers
Marshmello
Favorite Artist (Latin)
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Ozuna
Favorite Soundtrack
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
“A Star is Born”
