The 2017 American Music Awards (AMAs) celebrated 45 years of music live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on November 19. Traces Ellis Ross, star of ABC’s “blackish,” served as host where she presented the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement to her mother, music legend Diana Ross. Fans were treated to a show-stopping performance of “I’m Coming Out,” “Take Me Higher,” “Ease On Down The Road,” “Best Years Of My Life” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” from Diana Ross, who excepted the award with her entire family.
P!NK and Kelly Clarkson opened the show performing together for the first time with an emotional show opening singing “Everybody Hurts”. Other memorable moments included P!NK’s daring performance of “Beautiful Trauma” from the side of the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE, Selena Gomez’s returned to the AMAs stage with a world television performance debut of “Wolves” with Marshmallow, and BTS made their U.S. debut with a performance that literally rocked the house with screaming fans.
Christina Aguilera brought the house down with a powerhouse tribute honoring Whitney Houston and the 25th anniversary of The Bodyguard. She took to the stage to perform hit tracks “I Will Always Love You,” “I’m Every Woman,” “I Have Nothing,” and “Run To You.” Other performers included Lady Gaga, Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato, and unique collaborations including Imagine Dragons and Khalid, along with Hailee Steinfeld and Alesso ft. Florida Georgia Line.
Bruno Mars led the night with most wins snagging AMA’s coveted “Artist of the Year” award, where he will be offered his own full-time channel on SiriusXM in 2018, for a limited run. The artist-branded SiriusXM channel, created with and curated by the Bruno Mars, will showcase the he musical catalog, including his biggest hits, music from his favorite artists and more.
Post AMAs, T-Mobile presented Club Magenta powered by Pandora featuring an intimate live performances by Logic and Khalid at Exchange in Downtown Los Angeles. Prior to the awards, Celebrity Connected hosted a gifting to kick off the AMAs on November 18 at the W Hotel Hollywood. Guests were gifted with jewelry, beauty products, clothes, tasty treats, and more from a variety of brands including jewelry from Vivianna D’ Ontanon, apparel that giveback to save elephants from The Elephant Pants, clothes from OKO, cold weather compression activewear from Second Skin, and Gold sauna foil skincare mask from Elixir.
Checkout the full list of the 2017 American Music Award winners:
AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Diana Ross
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Bruno Mars
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY T-MOBILE
Niall Horan
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY XFINITY
“Despacito” Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber
TOUR OF THE YEAR
Coldplay
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Bruno Mars “That’s What I Like”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Bruno Mars
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP ROCK
Lady Gaga
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
Imagine Dragons
FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Bruno Mars “24K Magic”
FAVORITE SONG – POP/ROCK
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber “Despacito”
FAVROITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Keith Urban
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Carrie Underwood
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – COUNTRY
Little Big Town
FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
Keith Urban “Ripcord”
FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY
Keith Urban “Blue Ain’t Your Color”
FAVRORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Drake
FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Kendrick Lamar “DAMN.”
FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper and Lil Wayne “I’m The One”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Bruno Mars
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Beyoncé
FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Bruno Mars “24K Magic”
FAVORITE SONG – SOUL/R&B
Bruno Mars “That’s What I Like”
FAVORITE ARTIST – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Linkin Park
FAVORITE ARTIST – ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Shawn Mendes
FAVORITE ARTIST – LATIN
Shakira
FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Lauren Daigle
FAVROITE ARTIST – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
The Chainsmokers
TOP SOUNDTRACK
Moana
By Kinya Claiborne, STYLE & SOCIETY
Kinya’s Wardrobe by Boohoo and jewelry by Viviana D’ Ontañón
Photo Credit: Evan Jackson, Young, Bold & Regal