Billboard Explains: How to Dominate at the Billboard Music Awards

We’re just days away from Sunday’s (May 15) Billboard Music Awards, where music’s biggest stars get to celebrate their success on the Billboard charts. Who are some of the biggest artists of all time at the awards show, and who might dominate this year?

BBMA finalists and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay and touring.

Drake currently has more BBMAs than any artist in history with 29 wins, thanks to his string of top albums and hit singles. Taylor Swift follows as the biggest female BBMA winner of all time with 25 total wins, stretching all the way back to 2011 when she won her first top country album award for Speak Now. Justin Bieber rounds out the top three with 21 total wins, thanks in part to his standout year in 2017, when he won five awards for just one song: his remix of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee‘s “Despacito.”

Who could win big at this year’s Billboard Music Awards? The Weeknd leads the pack this year as a finalist in 17 categories. He already has 19 wins, making him the fifth-winningest artist of all time. If he wins 11 of his 17 nominations, he can take Drake’s crown as the biggest BBMAs winner in history. Swift could also win the title if she wins five of the seven categories that she’s a finalist in this year. Drake could also break his own record, as he’s a finalist in 11 categories.

Watch the latest episode of Billboard Explains above to learn more about how to dominate the BBMAs.

After the video, catch up on more Billboard Explains videos and learn about NFTs, SXSW, the magic of boy bands, American Music Awards, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Hot 100 chart, how R&B/hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S., how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, nonbinary awareness in music, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement, rise of K-pop in the U.S., why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom of hit all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs, how the Super Bowl halftime show is booked and why Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” was able to shoot to No. 1 on the Hot 100.

The Billboard Music Awards are produced by MRC Live & Alternative, a division of MRC. MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.

Written by Billboard