Taylor Swift Dominates In Country Genre At 2022 Billboard Music Awards

Taylor Swift was the top winner at the Billboard Music Awards from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The singer-songwriter won four awards, including 'Top Country Female Artist’ and 'Top Country Artist’. Red (Taylor’s Version) was awarded ‘Top Country Album’.

Notably, Eric Church took out ‘Top Country Tour’ for his Gather Again Tour, Morgan Wallen won ‘Top Male Country Artist’ and Dan + Shay were crowned ‘Best Country Duo/Group’. Breakout star, Walker Hayes’ viral hit, Fancy Like was awarded ‘Top Country Song’ – his first ever win. 

“What up, Billboard Awards?! Thank you for honouring Fancy Like as the ‘Top Country Song’,” Hayes said in a video message posted to the official BMMAs Instagram. “Holy cow, we never win anything…Just wanted to say thanks for honouring us. It’s a huge deal. It’s been a great year.”

The show featured performances from Wallen (Don’t Think Jesus and Wasted On You), Elle King and Miranda Lambert (Drunk (and I Don’t Wanna Go Home)) and Dan + Shay (You). 

For the rest of my days... I will never forget that @DanAndShay #BBMAs performance 💛

The Billboard Music Awards are on @nbc and @peacockTV, tune in! pic.twitter.com/PRGOJCXLEw

— Billboard Music Awards (@BBMAs) May 16, 2022

Wallen’s performance marks his first performance at a major awards show since he was caught on camera using a racial slur. Before the awards show, a Billboard poll showed fans were most looking forward to Wallen’s performance – he scored almost a fifth of the overall vote.

Upon accepting his award, Wallen said, “Man, I like to say thank God. [I’d like to] thank my fans, I’ve got the best damn fans. Thank you to my mama for being my date tonight, I wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you to the Billboards for inviting me here. Thank you to my team, my family, my friends, to my little boy for inspiring me every single day. God bless, y’all.” 

Congrats to @MorganWallen our Top Country Male Artist! #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/WH6GFl5kYI

— Billboard Music Awards (@BBMAs) May 16, 2022

MRC Live & Alternative, a division of MRC that produces the BBMAs, said the decision to book Wallen followed extensive internal discussions by a dedicated group of diverse staffers at MRC.

“We oppose discrimination, harassment, or racism of any kind,” MRC said in a statement. “We believe in treating everyone with dignity and respect. After a thorough review and robust discussions internally and with the artist’s team, in which we found a demonstrated and ongoing commitment to meaningful work and outreach, we extended an invitation to participate in this year’s show.”

Hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs, awards were handed out in 62 categories spanning a variety of genres, including five categories that are new to this year’s show: top Billboard global 200 artist, top Billboard global excl. U.S. artist, top Billboard global 200 song, top Billboard global excl. U.S. song and top viral song. This year’s BBMAs were based on the chart period of April 10, 2021, through March 26, 2022. Finalists and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Luminate.

Top Billboard 200 Artist
Adele
Drake
Juice WRLD
Morgan Wallen
 Taylor Swift (WINNER)

Top Country Artist
Chris Stapleton
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Taylor Swift (WINNER)
 Walker Hayes

Top Country Female Artist
Carrie Underwood
Miranda Lambert
 Taylor Swift (WINNER)

Top Country Male Artist
Chris Stapleton
Luke Combs
 Morgan Wallen (WINNER)

Top Country Tour
Luke Bryan (Proud To Be Right Here Tour)
Eric Church (Gather Again Tour) (WINNER)
 Chris Stapleton (All-American Road Show Tour)

Top Country Album
Florida Georgia Line “Life Rolls On”
Lee Brice “Hey World”
Taylor Swift “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”
Taylor Swift “Red (Taylor’s Version)” (WINNER)
 Walker Hayes “Country Stuff: The Album”

Top Country Song
Chris Stapleton “You Should Probably Leave”
Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood “If I Didn’t Love You”
Jordan Davis ft. Luke Bryan “Buy Dirt”
Luke Combs “Forever After All”
 Walker Hayes “Fancy Like” (WINNER)

Top Country Duo/Group
Dan + Shay (WINNER)
Florida Georgia Line
 Zac Brown Band

See the full list of award winners here.