For the second year in a row, the iHeartRadio Awards became the iHeartTaylorSwift Awards.
Not only did Swift claim three prizes at Sunday’s ceremony, including album of the year, but her bestie and her boyfriend took home trophies, too.
Swift won the first and last award of the night — female artist and album of the year. In between, she won best tour honors for her star-studded “1989 World Tour,” thanking boyfriend Calvin Harris (real name: Adam Wiles) from the stage.
“For the first time, I had the most amazing person to come home to when the spotlight went out and when the crowds were all gone,” Swift said. “So I want to thank my boyfriend Adam for that.”
Harris won dance artist of the year. Gomez took the “biggest triple threat” award.
U2 was the night’s other big winner. Singer Bono and guitarist The Edge accepted the show’s Innovator Award from last year’s winner, Pharrell Williams.
“The thing that might be the most innovative about our band is we are a real band,” Edge said. “We are still in our high school band.”
Song of the year went to Adele for “Hello.” She accepted via video from a performance in Birmingham, England. Other winners at the fan-voted show included Fetty Wap (best new artist), Pitbull (Latin artist of the year) and Chris Brown (R&B artist of the year). All three men also performed Sunday.
Brown thanked “everybody who supported me through all the worst times in my life and the positive times in my life.”
“I tend to not have a filter sometimes, and I go off on a lot of people,” said Brown, who has been dogged by legal troubles since pleading guilty to felony charges in 2009 for beating then-girlfriend Rihanna. “But the music stays the same.”
There were as many performances as awards presented during the three-hour show, broadcast live on TNT and TBS from the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Justin Bieber was the first artist to take the stage. He showed off his new dreadlocks as he performed a mash-up of “Love Yourself” and “Company.” He returned to the stage as a winner later in the night, claiming male artist of the year and sharing in the dance song of the year award with Diplo and Skrillex for “Where Are U Now.”
Bieber thanked his fans for standing by him through what he described as “tough times.”
“It’s just about our growth and learning,” he said.
Meghan Trainor performed her new single, “No.” Demi Lovato sang the heart wrenching “Stone Cold” while Brad Paisley accompanied her on guitar. Iggy Azalea unveiled her new song, “Team.” Zayn Malik made his solo awards-show performance debut, performing “Like I Would” from his new album, “Mind of Mine.”
Other performers included DNCE, The Weeknd, show host Jason Derulo and Maroon 5, which was named duo or group of the year.
Associated Press
