Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” won Song of the Year at the 2022 iHeartRadioMusic Awards, which were presented Tuesday (March 22) at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. LL Cool J hosted the quick two-hour show, which aired live on Fox.
Lipa was not present, so the larger category was not featured on the air. But three of the other big winners were on hand to accept – Olivia Rodrigo for Female Artist of the Year, Lil Nas X for Male Artist of the Year and Silk Sonic for Best Duo/Group of the Year. It was the first victory in these categories for the three artists.
Upon accepting his award, Lil Nas X pointed out that it was “delusional” to think he could drop out of school and be successful, come out of the closet at the peak of his career, and record a song about gay lust (“Montero ( Call Me By Your Name)”) and become a smash hit. “It’s okay to be delusional when you’re chasing your dreams,” he concluded.
Avril Lavigne, who landed her first Billboard Hot 100 hit, “Complicated,” when she was just 17, presented Rodrigo with the award. Rodrigo was also 17 when she got her breakthrough success, “the driver’s license”. Rodrigo also won the award for new pop artist. And Rodrigo’s pop-punk hit “good 4 u,” which shows the influence of Lavigne hits such as “Sk8er Boi,” won two awards. The song won Rodrigo the award for TikTok bop of the year, while Camila Cabello won best cover song for her cover version of the smash.
“Stay” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber won Best Collaboration. It beat out, among others, a second Bieber collab, “Peaches,” which featured Daniel Caesar and Giveon.
Luke Combs has been voted Country Artist of the Year for the fourth consecutive year. Drake won hip-hop artist of the year for the fourth time and Caliber 50 won regional Mexican artist of the year for the fourth time, although their races were not consecutive.
Foo Fighters was voted rock artist of the year for the second time. Bad Bunny also won Latin Pop/Reggaeton Artist of the Year for the second time.
Jazmine Sullivan won R&B Artist of the Year. This is the fourth consecutive year that a female artist has won this award. HER has won the last two years. Ella Mai won in 2019.
Machine Gun Kelly won Alternative Rock Artist of the Year, also for the first time. David Guetta was voted Dance Artist of the Year, also for the first time.
The show featured new artist awards in seven genres – Rodrigo (pop), Måneskin (alternative), Mammoth WVH (rock), Lainey Wilson (country), Yung Bleu (hip-hop), Giveon (R&B) and Grupo Firm (Latin).
BTS took home two social-voting awards – best fan army for the fifth consecutive year and best music video for “Butter.”
Harry Styles won Tour of the Year, an award that was not awarded last year due to the pandemic. The award has been given in previous years to road warriors such as Taylor Swift (twice), Coldplay, U2 and Elton John.
Jennifer Lopez has become the third recipient of the ICON award, following Bon Jovi (2018) and Elton John (2021). In her acceptance speech, she suggested that “ICON,” in her case, was an acronym for “I can overcome negativity — any moment, and so can you.”
Lopez also starred on the show, as did LL Megan Thee Stallion, Jason Aldean, Måneskin and the highly effective crew of John Legend and Charlie Puth. These two stars, sitting face to face, sang many of each other’s greatest hits. It’s a familiar gimmick, but it felt authentic and organic here.
Tom Poleman, president and chief programming officer for iHeartMedia, and John Sykes, president of entertainment businesses for iHeartMedia, served as the show’s executive producers, along with Joel Gallen, for Tenth Planet; and Bart Peters, for iHeartMedia.
Here is a full list of winners:
Song of the Year: “Levitation” – Dua Lipa
Female Artist of the Year: Olivia Rodrigue
Male Artist of the Year: Lil Nas X
Best Duo/Group of the Year: Sonic Silk
Better cooperation: “Stay” – The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber
Best New Pop Artist: Olivia Rodrigue
Alternative Artist of the Year: Machine Gun Kelly
Best New Alternative Artist: Maneskin
Alternative Song of the Year: “Monsters” – All Time Low featuring blackbear
Alternative Album of the Year: happier than ever –Billie Eilish
Rock Artist of the Year: foo fighters
Best New Rock Artist: Mammoth WVH
Rock song of the year: “Waiting for a War” – Foo Fighters
Rock album of the year: medicine at midnight – Foo Fighters
Country Artist of the Year: Luc Combes
Best New Country Artist: Lainey Wilson
Country Song of the Year: “If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood
Dance Artist of the Year: David Guetta
Dance Song of the Year: “Do It To It” – ACRAZE featuring Cherish
Hip Hop Artist of the Year: Duck
Best New Hip-Hop Artist: Yung Blue
Hip Hop Song of the Year: “What You Know About Love” – Pop Smoke
Hip Hop Album of the Year: The off-season – J. Cole
R&B Artist of the Year: Jazmine Sullivan
Best New R&B Artist: Overlook
R&B Song of the Year: “Leave the Door Open” – Silk Sonic
R&B Album of the Year: An Evening with Silk SonicSonic Silk
Latin Pop/Reggaeton Artist of the Year: bad bunny
Best New Latin Artist: Group Firm
Latin Pop/Reggaeton Song of the Year: “Pepas” – Farruko
Latin Pop/Reggaeton Album of the Year: Karl G.
Mexican Regional Artist of the Year: Caliber 50
Regional Mexican Song of the Year: “La Casita” – Banda Sinaloense MS By Sergio Lizárraga
Regional Mexican Album of the Year: Eslabon Armado
Producer of the Year: Finneas
Songwriter of the Year: Omer Fedi
iHeartRadio Trailblazer Award: Megan you stallion
iHeartRadio Chart Ruler Reward: “Stay” – The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber
Best Cover Song (Socially Voted Category): “good 4 u” (Olivia Rodrigo) – Camila Cabello
Best Fan Army (Socially Voted Category): #BTSARMY – BTS
Best music video (socially voted category): “Butter” – BTS
TikTok Songwriter of the Year (Socially Voted Category): Jax
Social Star Award (socially voted category): Bella Poarch
Best lyrics (socially voted category): “All Too Good (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (Vault)” – Taylor Swift
Favorite Tour Photographer (Socially Voted Category): Love on Tour (Harry Styles) – Anthony PHAM
TikTok Bop of the Year (Socially Voted Category): “good 4 u” – Olivia Rodrigo
Best Comeback Album (Socially Voted Category: 30 – Adele