ARIANA GRANDE
After an incredibly successful year and on the heels of her Billboard 200 chart-topping fourth album Sweetener, Ariana Grande has been named Billboard’s 2018 Woman of the Year.
The superstar singer, songwriter, actress and activist will be presented with the award Dec. 6 at the 13th annual Women in Music dinner and awards gala in New York. Grande joins a history of icons who have been previously honored as Woman of the Year, including Selena Gomez, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.
“Ariana Grande is a star on her own terms, never bending to any particular musical trend or path in the industry,” says Ross Scarano, Billboard’s vp of content. “Certain in her convictions, she consistently stands up for herself and her decisions in a world that often isn’t hospitable to that sort of strength in young women. She’s got guts, she’s making some of the best music of her career, and she’s absolutely deserving of Woman of the Year.”
BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan)
The year 2018 has been an exhilarating ride for BTS, and what capped off a cascade of its impressive feats was a bagful of trophies at a K-pop award show in its home turf of South Korea.
The group on Tuesday night received two grand awards, Best Artist of the Year and Digital Album of the Year, with its Love Yourself album at the 2018 MGA, a music award show jointly organized by Korean broadcaster MBC Plus and online music store Genie Music. The event was held at Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon on Tuesday.
"We'd always thought about giving positive influences to others through our music, and it's our honor that we have done so with this album. We will take this award as a message to keep working on making good music," said Suga after receiving the awards onstage.
Jimin said, "So many things have happened this year, and I will remember every moment I spent with you. I have nothing to say but thank you and I love you. I still lack in many things, but I will keep making efforts to become a better musician. Thanks for being with us, and we will not forget this moment."
V said, "Thanks for giving us the wings since our debut. Thanks to those wings, we could have reached the high place. As BTS, we will keep promoting Korea."
Jungkook and RM also thanked the group's fanbase BTS Army, promising their fans that they would return with better music.
At the highly-anticipated music award show, the K-pop heavyweight won four other awards: Best Male Dance Award, Best Choreography Award, Genie Music Popularity Award and Best Male Group Award.
CARDI B
DRAKE
The official list of tracks and albums that dominated Apple Music in 2018 has been announced, and it’s full of likely suspects. Drake leads the way with “God’s Plan” and his album Scorpion hitting the number one spots in their respective categories — he also bagged the “Artist of the Year” accolade from Apple Music’s editors — while Post Malone and Cardi B are close behind. In term’s of editorial selections, Juice WRLD has been crowned Breakout Artist of the Year, Cardi B‘s “I Like It” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin made Song of the Year, and Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves — reppin’ the country music category — is album of the year.
ED SHEERAN
Multi-platinum and multiple Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter
Ed Sheeran will be honored with the Artist of the Year Award at the Music Biz 2018 conference’s Awards Luncheon on Thursday, May 17, at the Omni Nashville Hotel.
With hits like “The Shape of You,” “Castle on the Hill,” and “Perfect,” Sheeran’s third studio album “÷” landed in the Billboard 200 at #1 upon its March 2017 release and is currently at No. 8, more than a year after its release. It was the year’s biggest album in the U..S., according to Nielsen Music.
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Ed Sheeran has had a remarkable year that few artists will ever achieve, helping to push streaming even further into the mainstream with the record-breaking success of ‘÷’ on these platforms, while also making history on the Billboard Hot 100,” said James Donio, President of Music Biz. “While he has been a strong presence in the industry for several years, 2017 proved to be extraordinary. We are thrilled to have him join the ranks of previous Music Biz Artist of the Year winners Adele, Little Big Town, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Green Day.”
Last year, all 60 dates of the North American leg of Sheeran’s world arena tour in support of “÷” sold out in minutes. He will return to the States this summer for the North American leg of his stadium tour.
“This past year has been absolutely unbelievable, and I really appreciate this amazing recognition from Music Biz,” said Sheeran. “Of course, none of it would be possible without all of my incredible fans and the fantastic team behind me.”
The Music Biz 2018 conference takes place from May 14-17 — for a schedule and more information, go to
musicbiz2018.sched.com.
TAYLOR SWIFT
After opening up the American Music Awards with a fiery performance of her song “I Did Something Bad,” the Grammy winner picked up the biggest award of the night: artist of the year.
“I just wanna say to the fans … you have been so nice to me and fun, and you’re so funny and you’re so cool and so loyal,” said the superstar during her acceptance speech. “Every time that you have made me lucky enough to ever get to stand on a stage and have something really sparkly in my hands … it means something different.”
“This time, I just want you to know it means encouragement … for me to be better, work harder and to make you guys proud as much as I possibly can,” she continued. “This award and every single award given out tonight were voted on by the people, and you know what else is voted on by the people is the midterm elections on Nov. 6. Get out and vote. I love you guys!”
CAMILA CABELLO
Camila Cabello took home the award for Artist of the Year at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards tonight (Monday, August 20), beating out fellow nominees Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Drake and Post Malone.The former Fifth Harmony star gushed about her passionate fans while excitedly accepting her first-ever Moonman."Thank you so much to my fans, I love you guys so much. You know, I'm fully aware that you never know when you're gonna get a moment like this...the relationship I have with you guys, with my fans, is a forever thing. You guys have been there since the beginning and I'm gonna be here for you 'til the very end...This is for you!" she said.Cabello also gave a shout-out to the other female nominees: "It's incredible. I'm so honored to be in a category with such incredible nominees. Shout-out to all the amazing female artists this year!"The "Havana" singer, who was also nominated for Video of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop and Best Choreography, also thanked her manager, mother, sister, parents and grandparents, who she said were "watching from Miami
POST MALONE
Post Malone won song of the year — and celebrated by rocking out with
Aerosmith.The singer took home the inaugural award for “Rockstar” at the 2018
MTV Video Music Awards on Monday night at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.“You go to bed and you dream about maybe winning and then whenever you get up here you don’t remember what the hell to say,” Malone, 23, said while taking the stage with
21 Savage, who guests on the song. “Thank you so much. Thank you to my family, thank you to my crew — everybody that was a part of the song. Thank you everybody for listening.”He added, “Honestly, in a hundred million years I would never expect to do this ever, so this is sick. So thank you so much, guys, thank you so much.”
XXXTentation
XXXTentation received two nominations posthumously, including favorite new artist of the year. The 20-year-old rapper, né Jahseh Onfroy, was shot and killed on June 18 while leaving a motorsports dealership outside Fort Lauderdale in his home state of Florida.
BRUNO MARS
After the breakout of his hit personal tracks “Nothing on You” and “Just the Way You Are” in 2010, Mars aimed for the stars and surpassed them. Since then, his list of number one singles on Billboard’s Hot 100 continues to grow, his records continue to sell at exponentially fast rates, and his tour stops continue to sell out.
The 2017 American Music Awards acknowledged these efforts put in by Mars. Unfortunately, he couldn’t attend in person to accept the award, but shared a special acceptance video in place of. The awards show showed appreciation to artists in all genres, including artists and bands such as
The Chainsmokers, Linkin Park, Coldplay, Drake, and more.
