Taylor Swift led all artists with eight nominations at the 2026 American Music Awards on Monday night in Las Vegas, then left the MGM Grand Garden Arena without a trophy. The surprise shutout came as Shakira won tour of the year, KATSEYE was named new artist of the year and Morgan Wallen picked up best male country artist for the second time in three years.
The show, hosted by Queen Latifah and broadcast on CBS while streaming on Paramount+, spread awards across pop/rock, soul/R&B, country, hip-hop, Latin, rock/alternative, dance/electronic, K-Pop, Afrobeats and Americana/folk. That range reflected how far the American Music Awards have moved since the first presentation in February 1974, when the event covered only three broad genres. On Monday, the competition felt wider and sharper than ever, and Swift’s empty hand stood out because no artist has ever won more AMAs than she has.
Swift remains the most decorated performer in the show’s history with 40 American Music Awards, far ahead of Michael Jackson’s 24. That made her loss all the more striking in a year when she entered the night with the strongest nomination total. The outcome also underlined how crowded the field has become, with trophies going to artists across genres rather than concentrating around one dominant name.
Shakira’s tour victory came over runs by Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, Lady Gaga and Oasis. Tyla won social song of the year for CHANEL, while Sam Barber took breakthrough country artist. Wallen, meanwhile, won best male country artist but saw I’m the Problem lose best country album to Megan Moroney’s Cloud 9. Those results gave the country categories a split verdict and kept Wallen from sweeping the field even as he added another win.
The 2026 AMAs were produced by Dick Clark Productions, owned by Penske Media Eldridge. Swift will go into the next awards cycle still standing alone at the top of the AMAs record book, but Monday’s show made clear that even her long command can be interrupted when the night spreads its wealth around.
