American Music Awards 2026 Winners: BTS, KATSEYE, Sabrina Carpenter and ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Lead the Night
The 2026 American Music Awards brought a wide-ranging mix of pop, K-pop, hip-hop, country, Latin, R&B and rock to Las Vegas, with several major wins reflecting just how global the fan-voted show has become.
The 52nd annual ceremony was hosted by Queen Latifah and aired from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on CBS and Paramount+. Now let’s get to all the details you need to know.
BTS Takes the Top Prize
BTS earned one of the night’s biggest honors, winning Artist of the Year. The group also picked up Song of the Summer for “SWIM” and Best Male K-Pop Artist, making them one of the ceremony’s most visible winners. This also marks the group’s second time taking the fan-voted top prize, following their previous win in 2021.
KATSEYE and ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Score Major Wins
The five-member pop group KATSEYE (with its sixth member said to be on a hiatus) also had a standout night, winning New Artist of the Year, Best Music Video for “Gnarly” and Breakthrough Pop Artist. The success continued for KPop Demon Hunters, which won Best Soundtrack, while “Golden” by the singing voices of HUNTR/X, EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, took home Song of the Year, Best Vocal Performance and Best Pop Song.
Pop, Rock and Genre Winners Round Out the Show
Sabrina Carpenter was another major winner, with Album of the Year and Best Pop Album for Man’s Best Friend, along with Best Female Pop Artist. Justin Bieber won Best Male Pop Artist, while PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson’s “Stateside” won Collaboration of the Year.
In rock and alternative, Twenty One Pilots won Best Rock/Alternative Artist, while sombr earned multiple wins, including Breakthrough Rock/Alternative Artist, Best Rock/Alternative Song for “back to friends” and Best Rock/Alternative Album for I Barely Know Her.
More Big Moments Across the Categories
Cardi B swept key hip-hop categories, winning Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, Best Hip-Hop Song for “ErrTime” and Best Hip-Hop Album for AM I THE DRAMA?. Bruno Mars led in R&B with wins for Best Male R&B Artist, Best R&B Song and Best R&B Album, while SZA won Best Female R&B Artist.
Other notable winners included Shakira for Tour of the Year and Best Female Latin Artist, Bad Bunny for Best Male Latin Artist and Best Latin Song, TWICE for Best Female K-Pop Artist, Tyla for Best Afrobeats Artist and Noah Kahan for Best Americana/Folk Artist.
