The nominees for the 21st American Music Awards have been announced, and the theme of the night could be explained best by one of the surprise nominees: Adele, who went into the 2017 awards season with a serious backlash but rallied critics and fans alike with an emotionally wrenching performance at the Grammys. Adele had previously been nominated for a total of nine AMAs; Saturday night she took home only one.
Other surprising nominees included Beyoncé, who tied Drake with eight nods. G-Eazy and Halsey garnered six. Selena Gomez, Rihanna, the Weeknd, 5 Seconds of Summer, Fifth Harmony, and John Legend were all nominated six times.
Adam Lambert, Katy Perry, Luis Fonsi, Logic, Shawn Mendes, Drake, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, and Khalid were nominated for six awards each. Twenty-one-year-old Zayn Malik took home three nominations, including Artist of the Year. Zayn will have a chance to win a Billboard Music Award with his new collaboration with Taylor Swift, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” which leads the pack of new pop releases by a margin of more than 200,000 sales. Swift’s album, Reputation, comes out the following week.
Top nominees and winners from last year, the 2017 American Music Awards, can be found here.
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