The first time I saw the American Music Awards was in Tehran, Iran, in 1984. The ceremony was recorded live on television. It made its way to me via a fixed illicit Betamax brought to our house by a friendly, little-known gentleman, hidden in an unmarked suitcase.
This was the only way to consume popular culture after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which banned music – especially Western music – in all its forms. In addition to albums dubbed on cassette tapes Top of the pops Recorded episodes from the BBC, there was little musical content available, almost all of it coming from Europe. Seeing the actual awards ceremony from the US was a completely different experience.
How charming everyone looked, how exciting it was to hear them speak when accepting their awards, and how fun it was to watch the artists interact with each other on stage. It’s been an exceptional year for music, dominated by the music of Michael Jackson stir. The best part for me was the performance by my favorite band, Culture Club, which was broadcast from London. The AMAs were a huge success, attracting more than 40 million viewers.
The following year, the AMAs were a source of talent for the vocal recording of “We Are the World.” After the ceremony, several winners and nominees headed to A&M Studios (now Chaplin Studios) in Hollywood for the session. They included two-time AMAs host Lionel Richie — who appeared in the Netflix documentary about the song, The greatest night in popHe says he chose this date specifically because of the talent he knew there would be in Los Angeles. He was joined by fellow award-winners Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates, and Huey Lewis. This momentous occasion made that year’s awards historic.
Recent decades haven’t been so kind. The show faced steady ratings declines in the 2000s, falling 42 percent in 2019 versus five years prior in 2014. For a while, the Covid pandemic seemed like a death knell, as the show went on hiatus for several years after 2022, and its absence was not particularly noticeable.
However, the 50th anniversary special in October 2024 saw a 54 percent increase in viewers over the 2022 show, while last year’s AMAs jumped nearly 40 percent over the last awards — suggesting that even as audiences turn away from bouts of televised industry congratulations, the AMAs may still have a place at the table with the 2026 edition scheduled for May 25.
So who exactly is the show on at the moment?
Historically, the Grammy Awards have skewed toward older people and toward the industry, giving “music’s biggest night” prestige, but also a decades-old reputation that still looks to be dismissed as a boring affair that doesn’t properly represent music-shaping culture. (See Beyoncé lemonade Losing the 2017 album of the year, or the infamous Kendrick Lamar album Good kid, Maad city The rap album ignores Macklemore’s theft, or The Weeknd boycotted the show for years after it was praised After hours He failed to receive a single nomination in 2021.)
In contrast, AMAS are determined by fan demand rather than industry taste.
By comparison, for better and worse, the entire core of an awards show is fan-based. This diminishes the prestige of exposure — being recognized by your peers is still a far more distinguished honor than a popularity contest — but it’s fans who give artists their place in the culture. However, they are usually excluded from the decision-making process when it comes to awarding honors.
Today, fandom has never been more important, as social media has shifted stan culture toward the mainstream. Fans casting votes via the AMAs and his Instagram (window closes May 8) lend legitimacy to the awards, or at least distinguish them from those determined solely by industry insiders deemed eligible to vote, some of whom likely don’t have as much familiarity with all the nominations as it does.
AMA categories are not tied to release date. If the artist, song, album, video, or what have you, had a major commercial hit that year, they are eligible to be nominated. There are the standard categories, of course, but the AMAs also include awards like New Song of the Summer, Best Throwback Song, Tour of the Year, and another new category, Breakout Tour. Given how much music industry profits are derived from touring versus recording, and how invested audiences are in the live experience today, these categories make sense.
In addition to voting, in another more fan-oriented move, tickets to the AMAs are now available to the public, another feature the Grammys have yet to adopt. This year marks the second time the concert has been held in Las Vegas and the first at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Between a crowd of fans and a location outside major entertainment hubs, the AMAs are starting to look more like a party than an awards show.
There is an intergenerational line-up this year that producers hope can attract audiences of all ages and tastes including Gen Z favorite Sombr (seven nominations on the night) and first-time nominees Katseye. Twenty One Pilots, Teddy Swims, Maluma, Keith Urban and Riley Green were also nominated. Also performing are Hootie & the Blowfish (winners of New Artist Pop/Rock in 1996) who will play selections from their 40-year career. Billy Idol is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award and will also perform.
The evening is being sponsored by host Queen Latifah, whom Somber found in the crowd at the Grammy Awards earlier this year during his performance of “12 to 12,” dancing with her after he ran into the crowd. No stranger to hosting the AMAs, the Grammy and Emmy winner and Oscar nominee co-hosted the show in 1995 alongside Tom Jones and Lorrie Morgan.
Queen Latifah could bring some of the dancing spirit she showed to Sombre at the party, as artists seem to be having more fun at the AMAs. The award is not to be underestimated in any way – it has earned its status since the AMAs were created in 1974 – but it’s nice to strip away the gravity and simply enjoy these things. Fans, both in person and from afar, would love to see that.
