Avril Lavigne, who landed her first hit when she was just 17, presented Rodrigo's award. Rodrigo was likewise 17 when she scored her breakthrough smash.
Dua Lipa's "Levitating" won Song of the Year at the 2022 iHeartRadioMusic Awards, which were presented Tuesday. The fast-paced, two-hour show aired live on Fox from the venerable Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Host LL Cool J opened the show with the hit medley.
Lipa did not exist, so the largest category was not presented on-air, simply announced immediately in a round-up of other non-television awards. But three of the other top winners were in attendance to accept – Olivia Rodrigo for Female Artist of the Year, Lil Nas X for Male Artist of the Year and Silk Sonic for Best Duet/Group of the Year. It was the first win in those categories for all three artists.
Accepting his award, Lil Nas X revealed that he was "delusional" to think he could drop out of school and make it big, come out of the closet at the peak of his career, and be gay. Could record a song about lust ("Montero (Call Me By Your Name)") and have it become a smash hit. "When you're chasing your dreams, it's okay to be delusional," he concluded.
Avril Lavigne, who scored her first hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Complicated", when she was just 17, presented Rodrigo the award. Rodrigo was also 17 years old when he made his breakthrough smash "driving license". Rodrigo also won the New Pop Artist Award. and Rodrigo's pop-punk smash "Good 4 U", which draws influence from Lavigne hits such as "Sk8er Boi", resulting in another award winning artist.
Camila Cabello won Best Cover Song in the Socially Voted category, for her cover version of "Good 4 U".
The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber's "Stay" won Best Collaboration. This led to, among others, a second Bieber collab, "Peaches", which featured Daniel Caesar and Given.
Luke Combs won the Country Artist of the Year award for the fourth year in a row. Drake won Hip-Hop Artist of the Year for the fourth time, although his run was not consistent.
Foo Fighters selected Rock Artist of the Year for the second time. Machine Gun Kelly won the Alternative Rock Artist of the Year award for the first time. David Guetta also won the Dance Artist of the Year award for the first time.
The show presented New Artist Awards in seven genres - Rodrigo (pop), Menskin (alternative), Mammoth WVH (rock), Laney Wilson (country), Yung Bleu (hip-hop), Givon (R&B), and Grupo. Firme (Latin )
BTS won two socially voted awards - Best Fan Force for the fifth year in a row and Best Music Video for "Butter".
Harry Styles won the Tour of the Year, an award that was not presented last year because of the pandemic. The award has been given over the years to road warriors like Taylor Swift (twice), Coldplay, U2 and Elton John.
Jennifer Lopez became the third recipient of the ICON Award after Bon Jovi (2018) and Elton John (2021). In his acceptance speech, he suggested that "ICON", in his case, was an acronym for "I can overcome negativity - every single moment, and you can too".
Lopez also performed on the show, as did Megan Thee Stallion, Jason Aldean, Menskin and the very effective teaming of John Legend and Charlie Puth. The two stars sang many of each other's biggest hits while sitting in front of the piano. It's a familiar gimmick, but it felt real and organic here.
Tom Pollman, iHeartMedia's President and Chief Programming Officer, and iHeartMedia's President of Entertainment Enterprises John Sykes served for Tenth Planet with Joel Gallen as executive producers of the show; and Bart Peters, for iHeartMedia.
Here are the winners in the major categories:
Song of the year: “Levitating” – Dua Lipa
Female artist of the year: Olivia Rodrigo
Male artist of the year: Lil Nas X
Best duo/group of the year: Silk Sonic
Best collaboration: “Stay” – The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber
Best new pop artist: Olivia Rodrigo
Alternative song of the year: “Monsters” – All Time Low featuring blackbear
Alternative artist of the year: Machine Gun Kelly
Best new alternative artist: Måneskin
Rock artist of the year: Foo Fighters
Best new rock artist: Mammoth WVH
Country song of the year: “If I Didn’t Love You” – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood
Country artist of the year: Luke Combs
Best new country artist: Lainey Wilson
Dance artist of the year: David Guetta
Hip-Hop artist of the year: Drake
Best new hip-hop artist: Yung Bleu
Best new R&B artist: Giveon
Best new Latin artist: Grupo Firme
Best cover song (socially voted category): “good 4 u” (Olivia Rodrigo) – Camila Cabello
Best fan army (socially voted category): #BTSARMY – BTS
Best music video (socially voted category): “Butter” – BTS
TikTok songwriter of the year (socially voted category): Jax
Trailblazer Award: Megan Thee Stallion