Elton John was given the prestigious Icon Award at the iHeartRadio Awards on Thursday night in Hollywood.
The honor came complete with a unique tribute performance by Demi Lovato, H.E.R. and Brandi Carlile performing his hits like Benny and the Jets.
The honor got off to a humorous start, with Coldplay’s Chris Martin pretending to have difficulties with the prompter.
H.E.R. kicked off the performance tribute with a rousing rendition of Benny and the Jets, followed by Brandi Carlile singing Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.
Demi Lovato brought the crowd to their feet, coming out in a sparkling pantsuit and sunglasses inspired by Elton’s classic look, singing I’m Still Standing.
After the rousing performances (and a bit of Chris Martin filling in for time), John took to the stage, to a standing ovation.
‘Thank you so much to iHeartRadio for honoring me this way. Thank you to H.E.R., Brandi Carlile, Demi Lovato, for paying tribute to me,’ he began.
‘It’s very touching, and I’m very humbled. Because when I first came to Los Angeles in 1970, radio was so important. I’d never heard radio in America before, because I’d never been here before, but it was just incredible to me. In England we had one station. Over here you had music coming out of the radio in all sorts of formats, all sorts of styles,’ he added.
‘But I have to say, radio is such an important thing to all of us. That’s where you hear things, that’s where you discover things, that’s why I like doing a radio show, that’s why being played on the radio for the first time, when you sit there and you hear yourself and you’re so excited — and it’s, for me what this award means, is that I still covet new artists,’ John continued.
He added that he tries to ‘promote young artists’ because ‘they need exposure,’ adding he’s had his ‘time in the sun.
He also gave a ‘special thanks’ to Lil Nas X, ‘because he is a wonderful artist and has balls of steel!’
Duet: The Weeknd got the 2021 iHeartRadio Awards off to a fantastic start with a performance of Save Your Tears… which became a surprise duet with Ariana Grande
The Weeknd got the 2021 iHeartRadio Awards off to a fantastic start with a performance of Save Your Tears… which became a surprise duet with Ariana Grande.
The 31-year-old singer took to the stage solo at the Dolby Theater to sing the first verse of his beloved song, before surprising the fans by bringing Grande, 27, out for the second verse.
The surprise duet shocked fans at the Dolby Theater, which kicked off the show before host Usher came out, surprising a few fans of his own by handing out stacks of cash.
First verse: The 31-year-old singer took to the stage solo at the Dolby Theater to sing the first verse of his beloved song, before surprising the fans by bringing Grande, 27, out for the second verse
Megan Thee Stallion won the first award of the night when she took home Best Collaboration for her song Savage featuring Beyonce, presented by French Montana.
She beat out Go Crazy – Chris Brown & Young Thug, Holy – Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper, I Hope – Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth and Mood – 24kGoldn featuring iann dio.
Megan thanked God, ‘Because without god, we wouldn’t be nothing,’ before thanking her fans, ‘the hotties, because without y’all, I wouldn’t be happening.
Presenter: Megan Thee Stallion won the first award of the night when she took home Best Collaboration for her song Savage featuring Beyonce, presented by French Montana
Winner: She beat out Go Crazy – Chris Brown & Young Thug, Holy – Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper, I Hope – Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth and Mood – 24kGoldn featuring iann dio
Thanking god and hotties: Megan thanked God, ‘ Because without god, we wouldn’t be nothing,’ before thanking her fans, ‘the hotties, because without y’all, I wouldn’t be happening
Twenty One Pilots took home the Alternative Artist of the Year and the Alternative Rock Song of the Year for their hit Level of Concern.
They revealed during a video package that the COVID-19 quarantine gave them more time to ‘work on music.’
‘My mom was like, I can use an upbeat song to distract me from all of this, and I took it as a challenge,’ Tyler Joseph said.
Winners: Twenty One Pilots took home the Alternative Artist of the Year and the Alternative Rock Song of the Year for their hit Level of Concern
Winner: Shay: Dan + Shay also performed their hit new single Glad You Exist during the telecast, introduced by their labelmate Gabby Bareress
Dan + Shay also performed their hit new single Glad You Exist during the telecast, introduced by their labelmate Gabby Bareress
They were followed by an electric performance by Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak, performing their hit Leave the Door Open.
Taylor Swift won Pop Album of the Year for her hit album Folklore, as she thanked everyone from her fans to her photographer.
Bruno and Anderson: They were followed by an electric performance by Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak, performing their hit Leave the Door Open
‘Thank you so much for this award and for the honor. I have to say thank you to everyone at I heart and everyone that supported Folklore. It was an album I made in the very beginning of the pandemic, I started writing it, and I feel like it became sort of an emotional life rafrt for me to put all my feelings into,’ Swift said.
‘I have to say thank you to Aaron Defner and Jack Antonoff, your creativity has completely changed my life, friends forever. Thank you to Beth Garabrant, who took the photos for Folklore, and really helped me create this world that I saw in my head,’ she added.
‘Because we all needed to escape into stories, whether it was movies or TV or film or music. And the fact that you chose this album, I am so honored by that. And you really wrapped your arms around it. The way that someday we’ll get to wrap our arms around each other when we see each other again,’ she concluded.
After his crowd-pleasing opening performance, The Weeknd was named Male Artist of the Year.
‘Thank you. Oh my gosh. Live audience. I want to thank my team, my xo family, of course. I want to thank my family, money and Luke, Wendy, Jo, Katherine Frasier, Sal, Cash, Lamar. I want to thank Ariana grande for coming out tonight. I want to thank my fans. Thank you. I love you guys,’ The Weeknd said.
Nelly came out to present the Best Hip-Hop Artist of the Year to Roddy Ricch, who beat out DaBaby, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion and Pop Smoke.
‘I just want to thank my teach, my mama, my son, know what I’m saying, this for you, my mama,’ Roddy Ricch said in his succinct speech.
Machine Gun Kelly won Alternative Rock Album of the Year, though when host Usher asked if he was done with rap, he answered an emphatic, ‘Never! Never! Never!”
Megan Thee Stallion came out on top when the nominations for the iHeartRadio Music Awards were revealed on Wednesday.
The Body artist, 25, earned eight nods while Roddy Ricch snagged seven and The Weeknd managed six.
The pair will face off in the Song Of The Year category, where the DaBaby song ROCKSTAR featuring Ricch and The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights are both nominated along with Post Malone’s Circles, Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now and Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles.
Nominations: Megan Thee Stallion came out on top when the nominations for the iHeartRadio Music Awards were revealed on Wednesday
Other notable noms include three for late rapper Pop Smoke, who is up for hip-hop artist of the year as well as best new artist in both pop and hip-hop.
Despite his loyal fanbase, controversial country artist Morgan Wallen was snubbed in all of the country categories.
iHeartRadio’s decision echoed the American Country Music Awards’ choice to suspend him from competing for awards and appearing on the telecast after being caught using a racial slur on video.
There will be some friendly rivalry in the best cover category, where Lizzo is nominated for her rendition of Harry Styles’ Adore You while he was picked for a version of her track Juice.
Fans will get to vote on several special awards starting on Wednesday.
Vote: Fans will get to vote on several special awards starting on Wednesday
They’ll be able to decide which artist has the Best Fan Army, who writes the Best Lyrics, Best Cover Song performance, Best Music Video and Favorite Music Video Choreography Award.
The public will also vote on Social Star Award and the first-ever TikTok Bop of the Year Award.
The iHeartRadio Music Awards are now in their ninth year, celebrating the most-played artists and songs on iHeartRadio stations and the iHeartRadio app throughout 2020.
Nominations are based on consumption data, including streaming, album sales, song sales and radio airplay.
The 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards are set to air live from LA’s Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on May 27 from 8pm to 10pm ET on Fox.