Written by: Caroline Walters
The tenth annual iHeartRadio Music Awards premiered on Monday, March 28th, and we can’t stop thinking about some of the incredible awards and performances from the night! From beautiful performances by Lenny Kravitz and Coldplay to P!nk’s tear-jerking acceptance speech, we recapped some of our favorite moments for you! 🏆
One of the most exciting awards of the night was P!nk receiving the 2023 iHeartRadio Icon Award! This award recognizes all of the incredible feats she’s achieved, from releasing her ninth studio album TRUSTFALL in February to being the first international artist to receive the Brits Outstanding Contribution To Music Award in 2019! The Icon Award doesn’t get presented every year, and the main purpose is to celebrate artists who’ve had such an incredible impact on pop culture! For P!nk, this is seen through her immense radio play and her continually sold-out tours. Her speech said this felt like “Christmas morning” to her and we’re so grateful that she keeps releasing such vulnerable and incredible music! 😍
Another exciting award is the iHeartRadio Innovator Award! This award has been presented periodically since the awards started in 2014, and previous winners include Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. This year, the award is being presented to none other than Taylor Swift! The award is given to artists that have had a profound impact on pop culture! There’s no doubt that Taylor’s had a big influence on pop culture through her music, tour successes, and her philanthropic efforts! Phoebe Bridgers presented the award to Taylor and we could not love this duo any more than we already do. Taylor’s speech focused on how she thinks the key to being an innovator is to do what’s best for you at that time in your life, and how because of her fans, she knows she’s made the right choices! Taylor won more awards that night including Song of the Year (“Anti-Hero”), Best Pop Album (Midnights), Best Lyrics ("Anti-Hero"), and even TikTok Bop of the Year ("Bejeweled")! 🥰
Harry Styles also had a big night, winning three awards! His major award he won was the Artist of the Year award! Harry wasn’t there to accept the award because he was finishing up tour, but his acceptance video showed how happy he was to have won. He also won the socially voted awards for not only Best Residency, but Favorite Tour style! His tour photographer, Lloyd Wakefield, won the fan voted Favorite Tour Photographer category as well! 📸
Some of our favorite awards moments included BTS winning a few awards too and taking home the fan voted category for Best Fan Army! BTS fans call themselves the A.R.M.Y., so this one makes sense! They also won for Best Music Video. SZA won for R&B Song of the Year and R&B Artist of the Year. This was an exciting year for the Best New Country Artist, Cody Johnson! He performed his song “‘Til You Can’t” and was recognized next to Luke Combs and Cole Swindell! Sam Smith and Kim Petras won the Best Collaboration award for “Unholy,” and their video acceptance speech showed Sam rehearsing for tour and Kim being so grateful for the way the song has changed her life. 🤍
A few of our favorite performances from the night include not only P!nk singing “Trustfall” by herself, but the incredible tribute to her as well. Kelly Clarkson, Neil Giraldo, and Pat Benatar all joined forces to sing some of her most popular songs to congratulate her for winning the Icon Award and to celebrate her incredible career. Pat and Neil performed “Just Like a Pill” before Kelly started singing a beautiful version of “Just Give Me a Reason,” with P!nk joining from the audience. We definitely had a box of tissues next to us for this performance! Lenny Kravitz rocked the stage as not only the host, but especially when he performed some of his most iconic songs! He started off with his classic cover of “American Woman” by The Guess Who before going into his songs “Fly Away” and “Are You Gonna Go My Way!” Latto performed her hit song “Lottery” with a gorgeous group of dancers behind her, and Coldplay even live streamed their performance of “My Universe” while on stage in Brazil! 🎸
The iHeartRadio Awards aren’t the last awards ceremony for this season, so make sure to check back later for our recaps of other ceremonies! If you’re like us and you cried at P!nk's performance or couldn’t stop freaking out over this year’s Best New Country Artist, let us know on Instagram or Twitter! ✨
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