April is starting off on a high note thanks to the iHeartRadio music awards which premiered live April 1st on FOX. The iHeartRadio music awards celebrate the most-played songs and artists that were played on iHeartRadio stations and the app from 2023. This year, the event took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California and was hosted by hip-hop icon Ludacris. Since this is an award show that celebrates music, there were live performances from some of today’s biggest artists throughout the night.
Justin Timberlake opened up the show by singing and dancing to his songs “Selfish” and “No Angels” off of his new album Everything I Thought It Was. Timberlake had a band and background singers that danced along with him, creating a fun and upbeat environment for the audience!
Rising star Tate McRae danced and sang her record-breaking hits “Greedy” and “Exes” off of her new album Think Later. Host Ludacris performed a mash-up of some of his greatest hits with special guest T-Pain.
iHeartRadio honored three legendary figures in the music world with special awards. The three awards were The Icon Award, The Innovator Award, and The Landmark Award.
Beyoncé received the Innovator Award, to which Northern Essex Community College student Elle Palumbo said that she “is so deserving of because her album [Cowboy Carter] was so personal and beautiful and she is 110% an innovator”. Stevie Wonder presented Beyoncé with the award. When accepting the award, Beyoncé thanked Wonder for “making a way for all [artists]” and smiled big when saying she is “honored to receive this recognition from [him]”.
Cher received the Icon Award after delivering a beautiful performance with artist Jennifer Hudson. As a musical tribute performance, Hudson performed “If I Could Turn Back Time” by Cher before changing songs to “Believe”, in which Cher came out and sang alongside Hudson. Afterwards, Meryl Streep came on stage and presented Cher with the award, which excited fans of Mamma Mia! and Silkwood to see them reunite.
Green Day received the Landmark Award and was handed the trophy by Avril Lavigne after their performance of “Bobby Sox” and “Basket Case”.
Many artists, ones who have been nominated before and never-before were able to bring home some iHeartRadio awards!
It is not a surprise that Taylor Swift won the most awards of the night after the incredible past year she’s had. Swift extended her lead as the artist with the most iHeartRadio awards as she won 6 awards at this year’s show, including both Artist of the Year and Pop Artist of the Year (which was a new category at this year’s show), and brought her total amount of iHeartRadio awards to 25. Surprisingly, Swift and her loyal, die-hard “Swifties” did not receive the award for Best Fan Army. The award instead went to K-Pop group BTS and their fans, “The BTS Army”.
In second place, with 4 awards won, was Regional Mexican artist Peso Pluma and R&B artist SZA. Thanks to her smash-hit “Kill Bill”, SZA was able to bring home the award from the biggest category, Song of the Year. Pluma received the award for both Regional Mexican Artist of the Year and Regional Mexican Album of the Year, along with two other iHeartRadio awards.
2023 introduced us to many new and talented artists who were nominated at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards. Breakout artist Jelly Roll won Best New Artist in both the Pop and Country category. “Dial Drunk” singer Noah Kahan received the award for Best New Artist in the Alternative and Rock category. New hip-hop icon Ice Spice took home the award for Best New Artist in the Hip-Hop category. “On My Mama” singer Victoria Monét won the award for Best New Artist in the R&B category.
In summary, the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards reminded us why music is so important and vital to us. Music helps us connect, learn, and love one another, and most importantly, helps us sing our hearts out!
The iHeartRadio Awards was full of fun musical performances that got everyone up on their feet dancing and singing.
The Awards was also full of new, first-time winners who can add an iHeartRadio trophy to their trophy cases at home! If you are interested in seeing the full list of nominees and winners, check out the official iHeartRadio website (https://news.iheart.com/featured/iheartradio-music-awards/content/2024-03-31-2024-iheartradio-music-awards-see-the-full-list-of-winners/).
