Billboard Music Awards: BTS Mania, Janet Jackson & More

2018 Billboard Music Awards

This year's Billboard Music Awards were full of surprises, amazing performances, and unforgettable moments. 

Taking the stage at this year's BBMAs included Ariana Grande, BTSChristina Aguilera with Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes and the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School show choir for an emotional tribute performance, Salt-N-Pepa's trip down memory lane with En Vogue, and Janet Jackson's jaw-dropping career-spanning performance, in addition to many others. 

There were also many moments to remember forever. Taylor Swift made her big return to the red carpet (and awards shows in general), in a mini Fifth Harmony reunion, Camila Cabello and Normani Kordei reunited backstage, a tribute to Avicii by The Chainsmokers, and more. 

See all of the best moments from this year's Billboard Music Awards below.

Kelly Clarkson emotionally addresses Santa Fe school shooting 

Kelly Clarkson opened up the BBMAs, asking the MGM Grand Garden Arena to opt for "a moment of action" instead of a moment of silence in reference to the 10 people that were killed at Santa Fe High School after a 17-year-old student went on a shooting rampage with a shotgun and a pistol. "So sorry," the American Idol alum said at the beginning of the broadcast, holding back tears in her eyes. "I'm a Texas girl and my home state has had so many tragedies this past year. And once again, y’all, we’re grieving for more kids that have died for absolutely no reason at all. . . I’m so sick of ‘moment of silence.’ It’s not working. Like, obviously. Sorry. Why don’t we not do a moment of silence? Why don’t we do a moment of action? Why don’t we do a moment of change? Why don’t we change what is happening? Because it’s horrible."

Janet Jackson receives Icon Award & gives career-spanning performance

Janet Jackson was bestowed with the prestigious Icon Award, and if you ask any of her decades-long, diehard fans, the honor was long overdue. Bruno Mars surprisingly took the stage to give Jackson her trophy. Before Ms. Jackson -- if ya nasty -- was given the award, she performed a melody of some of her MANY chart-topping hits. Having the extremely hard choice to only pick three songs from her incredible catalogue, Jackson chose to perform "Nasty," "If" and "Throb." This set marked her first televised performance in about nine years. While onstage, nostalgia took over everyone's hearts and bodies, as they moved to the star's show and loved every second of it. 

Janet Jackson Billboard Music Awards

Salt-N-Pepa perform their biggest hits with En Vogue

Salt-N-Pepa took the stage with En Vogue to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the rap group becoming the very first female rap artists to hit a spot in the Top 40 position of the Billboard Hot 100. They took the stage to perform “Shoop,” “Push It” “Let’s Talk About Sex” and “Whatta Man.” From the older heads in the audience who grew up on their music to the younger generations who watched, everyone was here for it all. Things really got turned up a notch when En Vogue came out for “What A Man.” Wow, what a show!

Salt-N-Pepa

Shawn Mendes, Khalid & the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas show choir unite for emotional "Youth" performance

Shawn Mendes and Khalid performed their new song, "Youth," and invited the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Show Choir to help the send a powerful message, right on the heels of the tragic shooting at Santa Fe High School on Friday that left 10 dead. Standing side by side, Khalid and Shawn performed the emotional song, Khalid wearing a t-shirt with the words "Protect our children" on it (the word "guns" is crossed out). And Shawn, as well as the MSD choir, wore Shawn's official "Youth" merch, which proceeds for go to March For Our Lives.

Khalid, Shawn Mendes Billboard Music Awards 2018

Christina Aguilera & Demi Lovato team up for "Fall in Line" duet

If you're a fan of Demi Lovato, you already know what a dream come true it was for her to join the stage with Christina Aguilera to perform the pop veteran's collaborative new single, "Fall in Line," which happens to be the latest single off her forthcoming LP, LiberationFor their performance, which was introduced by host Kelly Clarkson, the superstars kept their vocals at the forefront of the Sin City set. Rocking a matching wet hair look with black trenchcoats, the pair were surrounded by a batch of backup dancers in police-esque get-ups as they paraded around the stars. It ended with the pair holding each other on the floor of the stage with a backdrop of two little girls playing with one another to nod to the track's female empowerment theme.

Christina Aguilera, Demi Lovato perform at Billboard Music Awards

Camila Cabello & Normani Kordei have a mini Fifth Harmony reunion backstage

Fifth Harmony might be a thing of the past, but Camila Cabello and Normani played nicely on Sunday (May 20) when the former singing sisters crossed paths behind the scenes of the 2018 Billboard Music Awards and posed for a photo. Outside of trailers, the two stars snapped a shot with one another and you can tell that the troubles that they were met with while in the pop collective are a thing of the past, or at least that's how it looked. 

Taylor Swift returns to the red carpet

It's been a while since we've seen T-Swift at an awards show, but it is so nice to have her back! Taylor won several awards throughout the night, including Top Female Artist and Top Selling Album for reputation. But it only got better from there. Tay got to hang out with all of her celebrity friends, and even make some new ones (cough cough, BTS, cough cough) back stage. 

Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, Camila Cabello

BTS perform "Fake Love" just days after releasing their new album Love Yourself

Just days after dropping their new album, Love Yourself: Tear, BTS took over the 2018 Billboard Music Awards to unveil the debut television performance of their new single, "Fake Love." Dressed in casual streetgear, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook offered up a sleek four-minute performance to the new track, bringing the dance energy to life on the Sin City stage. Elsewhere in the number, the group worked in plenty of intricate choreography and, boy, was it something that the BTS ARMY celebrated. 

BTS performs at Billboard Music Awards 2018

Jennifer Lopez performs "Dinero" for first time with DJ Khaled

Jennifer Lopez gave the first live performance of her newest single "Dinero" at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards. The song just premiered a couple of days ago. Featuring Cardi B and DJ Khaled, the title translates to "Money" and all three recording artists in the single can't stop talking about their love of it, from the beginning of the track until the last beat drop. What's very fun about the song is that J. Lo and Cardi both flex their bilingual skills, as they sing and rap in both English and Spanish. While performing the new single at the awards show, J. Lo gave us hot choreography, power vocals, and all high levels of attitude and fierceness. With her backup dancers, Lopez completely killed her Billboard Music Awards performance. 

Kelly Clarkson nailed her medley of the year's biggest hits

Kelly Clarkson knew that she had to come up with something special for her hosting introductions at the BBMAs, so she relied on that voice of hers and everyone couldn't get enough. At the top of the ceremony, the American Idol alum said that she wanted to do something that incorporated her love for all genres of music. "I'm a big fan. I love all of these artists. I'm keeping my role super simple," she told the audience, before kicking off her medley with Maren Morris' "My Church." It wasn't long before some of the biggest hits of the last year were given the Clarkson spin, including Sam Smith's "Too Good at Goodbyes," Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE.", Imagine Dragon's "Thunder," Khalid's "Young, Dumb and Broke," Bruno Mars and Cardi B's "Finesse (Remix)," Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You," Shawn Mendes' "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back," and Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do."

Kelly Clarkson performs at Billboard Music Awards

The Chainsmokers remember Avicii & dedicated their award to the late DJ/producer

It's been exactly a month since we lost beloved Swedish producer/DJ Avicii after he was found dead in Muscat, Oman on April 20th, and during the BBMAs, The Chainsmokers and Halsey remembered him during a short speech. Then, later on after winning Top Dance/Electronic Artist, the duo dedicated their award to Avicii. Drew said, "We wanna dedicate this song to Avicii. None of us would be here ... I know everyone that was nominated for this award was massively influenced by him. He is someone who made us believe that this was something, you know, a realistic career, something that we could do with our lives, inspired all of us, influenced our music, influenced pop music [and] music in general, and he will me missed. I hope you're somewhere, I hope you found peace, and we love you."

The Chainsmokers Billboard Music Awards

Photos: Getty Images


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content