During a performance-heavy ceremony, Taylor Swift kept her dominance going with three big wins at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards Sunday night. She wound up being the only multi-award winner of the night, but Justin Timberlake stole her thunder with his Innovator award.
Swift took home Artist of the Year, Song of the Year for “Shake It Off” and Best Lyrics for “Blank Space.”
Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj won for Best Collaboration for “Bang Bang” and Jason Aldean took home Country Song of the Year for “Burnin’ It Down.” The Hip Hop/R&B Song of the Year winner was Jeremih and YG’s “Don’t Tell ‘Em.” Dance Song of the Year went to Calvin Harris’ “Summer” and Hozier’s “Take Me To Church” won Alternative Rock Song of the Year.
Sam Smith added Best New Artist to his growing collection of awards, while 5 Seconds of Summer’s fans won Best Fan Army. The Renegade Award went to Brantley Gilbert.
However, the biggest award of the night went to Justin Timberlake, who received the 2015 iHeartRadio Innovator Award. After Tom Ford’s introduction and a clip reel of people talking about how great the “Suit & Tie” singer is, Timberlake gave an emotional speech.
“They called me different. They called me weird,” Timberlake said. “Thankfully my mother taught me that being different was a good thing. That being different meant you could actually make a difference so I wanna thank my mom.”
Timberlake also thanked his wife, Jessica Biel, who is expecting.
During the show, Swift got to perform with Madonna, Rihanna performed her new song and Nick Jonas gave a chained performance of “Chains.”
The ceremony aired on NBC, live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Actor Jamie Foxx hosted.
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