Taylor Swift a triple winner at iHeartRadio Music Awards
Taylor Swift took home the top honors at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on Sunday (29Mar15), earning three of the night's biggest prizes.
The Shake It Off hitmaker was given the top prize of the night with the Artist of the Year award, and she took the opportunity to pay tribute to her fans for their continued support.
She said, "More than anything in the world I hope that... the fans
(know) how much I adore you, how much I put you first. I am so
proud that having done this for 10 years now, we've gotten closer
and closer, not further apart. I love knowing your stories. You
make me so happy."
Swift also earned the first award of the night for Best Lyrics
thanks to her hit Blank Space, and also won Song of the Year for
Shake It Off.
Other winners included newlywed Jason Aldean, whose Burnin' It Down
won Country Song of the Year, Ariana Grande, Jessie J and Nicki
Minaj, who were given the Best Collaboration prize for their hit
Bang Bang, while country star Brantley Gilbert was given the
first-ever Renegade award to recognize him as a true original in
the industry.
Special honoree Justin Timberlake was presented with the Innovator
Award by fashion designer Tom Ford, and he was shown a special
video tribute featuring friends including Jimmy Fallon, Swift,
Timbaland, and Pharrell Williams, who won the same prize last year
(14).
In his acceptance speech, Timberlake said, "Growing up in school,
no one ever called me anything close to an innovator. They called
me different, they called me weird. They called me a couple other
things that I can't say on TV, so thankfully my mother taught me
that being different actually meant that you could make a
difference.
"If you're a young person like I used to be, and you're at home
watching and you're being called weird, and you're being called
different, or whatever the hell you're being called, I'm here
tonight to tell you your critics do not count. Their words will
fail. You won't."
Timberlake ended his speech by thanking his wife Jessica Biel, who
is pregnant with their first child, adding, "Lastly, you can't have
innovation without creation, so I want to thank my best friend, my
favorite collaborator, my wife Jessica who's at home watching.
Honey, I can't wait to see our greatest creation yet. Don't worry,
Daddy's heading home right now to innovate by learning how to
change a poopy diaper and get my swaddle on."
Iggy Azalea and Jennifer Hudson kicked off the second annual
prizegiving with a performance of the Aussie rapper's track
Trouble, while Rihanna performed her new single B**ch Better Have
My Money, and Madonna sang her latest offering Ghosttown with Swift
on guitar.
Other performers included Nick Jonas, Kelly Clarkson, Florida
Georgia Line, and Meghan Trainor, while Oscar winner Jamie Foxx,
who hosted the event at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, also
debuted his own new track, You've Changed, featuring Chris
Brown.
The full list of prizewinners is:
Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift
Song of the Year: Shake It Off by Taylor Swift
Best New Artist: Sam Smith
Best Collaboration: Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki
Minaj
Hip-Hop/R&B Song of the Year: Don't Tell 'Em by Jeremih
featuring YG
Alternative Rock Song of the Year: Take Me to Church by Hozier
Country Song of the Year: Burnin' It Down by Jason Aldean
Dance Song of the Year: Summer by Calvin Harris
Best Lyrics: Blank Space by Taylor Swift
Best Fan Army: 5SOSFAM (5 Seconds of Summer)
Renegade Award: Brantley Gilbert
Innovator Award: Justin Timberlake.