Drake sets new record at Billboard Awards with 13 wins
Photo: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Drake truly triumphed at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas last night.
Not only did he set a new record by picking up 13 awards in a single night (and surpassed Adele’s 12 from last year), but he was the most tweeted-about artist during the three-hour show.
He topped the Billboard + Twitter Trending 140 chart after his dynamic performance of Gyalchester.
During one of his acceptance speeches, Drake sent a message to Adele (he surpassed her 12 wins from the year before), “I want to say, hold tight, Adele, because when a new thing drops you’ll be back to get the record back.”
The Canadian performer went into the awards with 22 nominations.
His wins included the most prestigious one, for top artist, as well as top male artist, top Billboard 200 album for Views and top streaming song (audio) for One Dance.
He beat out Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Adele, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, twenty one pilots, Shawn Mendes and The Chainsmokers for artist of the year. He received the award from Michael Jackson’s eldest son Prince.
“I got my whole family up here,” said Drake, who stood onstage with nearly two dozen people, including his father Dennis Graham, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj.
Drake flirted openly with High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens, who co-hosted with Ludacris, saying she looked “incredible”. She attended his after-party bash at one of the MGM Grand’s nightclubs (he did a set of his songs for his guests) and they slipped out for a late night dinner after at the Hakkasan.
He also hung out backstage with fellow Canadian Celine Dion, who performed My Heart Will Go On to celebrate the 20th anniversary ofTitanic.
He told her, “It means the world [to meet you], you’re very iconic” and indicated that he wanted to add her portrait to his collection of tattoos.
Drake’s latest ink is of Sade, after he met her during his recent British tour.
Cher picked up her Icon award with renditions of Believe and If I Can Turn Back Time that had the crowd up on their feet.
“I wanted to do what I do since I was four years old and I’ve been doing it for 53 years,” said Cher, who had turned 71 the day before.
“And I can do a five-minute plank. Just saying.”
She thanked her mother. “Because when I was really young, my mom said, ’You’re not going to be the smartest. You’re not going to be the prettiest. You’re not going to be the most talented, but you’re going to be special.”
“I think luck has so much to do with my success with a little bit of something thrown in.”
There were two poignant moments. Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds called for a moment’s silence for Chris Cornell. He called him “a true innovator,” “a musical architect”, “a prolific songwriter” and “a legendary performer”.
Diddy honored Notorious B.I.G (the night marked what would have been his 45th birthday), introduced his son CJ Wallace, and screened the trailer of the documentary Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story available on Apple Music on June 25.
Beyoncé and twenty one pilots won five awards each. The Chainsmokers, who matched Drake’s 22 nominations, took home four trophies.
In another tie-up, The Chainsmokers’ Closer has become the second song to hit 1 billion streams on Spotify. The first was Drake’s One Dance, which hit the milestone last year.
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