The Weeknd was crowned Male Artist of the Year at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards.
The annual music awards ceremony returned on Thursday night, May 27, 2021, with a masked in-person ceremony at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, following the cancellation of the 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And the star-studded bash saw the 31-year-old megastar and the 22-year-old Compton rapper Roddy Ricch triumph with three nods apiece.
The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” won the coveted Song of the Year prize and was also honored with the inaugural TikTok Bop of the Year title.
The Canadian singer was also crowned Male Artist of the Year.
As for Ricch, he made history as the first artist to win both Hip-Hop Artist of the Year and Best New Hip-Hop Artist, while he also competed against himself for Hip-Hop Song of the Year, with “The Box” triumphing over his own tracks “High Fashion” featuring Mustard and “ROCKSTAR” with DaBaby.
Future and Drake’s “Life is Good” and Megan Thee Stallion‘s “Savage” remix featuring Beyoncé missed out on the award.
As expected, BTS dominated the Socially Voted Categories, taking home Best Fan Army for the BTS Army, Best Music Video for “Dynamite” and Best Music Video Choreography by Son Sung Deuk.
Dua Lipa went home with Female Artist of the Year, beating off stiff competition from Megan Thee Stallion, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish.
Swift’s folklore was named Best Pop Album, and Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé’s “Savage” remix won Best Collaboration.
Elsewhere, Dan + Shay became the first country group to take home Duo/Group of the Year, and they had a fierce battle on their hands with BTS, Jonas Brothers, Maroon 5 and Twenty One Pilots nominated in the category.
Luke Combs was named Country Music Artist of the Year for the third consecutive year.
And Twenty One Pilots took Alternative Rock Artist of the Year for the third time.
Sir Elton John was the recipient of the Icon award and received his honor from Chris Martin and Lil Nas X.
Usher hosted the ceremony and also performed a medley of his hits.
Other performances included The Weeknd and Ariana Grande giving the live debut of their remix of “Save Your Tears,” Silk Sonic wowed with “Leave the Door Open” and a tribute to Elton with H.E.R., Demi Lovato and Brandi Carlile performing the music legend’s greatest hits.
Flip the page for an abridged list of the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards 2021 winners.
