It was Bruno Mars’ night – too bad he couldn’t be there.
The 32-year-old entertainer was the big winner at the 2017 American Music Awards held Sunday night at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, as the pop stalwart captured a night-high seven of the eight awards he was nominated for.
‘OH S***!!! 7 AMAs??? LETS GOOOOO! THIS S**** INCREDIBLE! They asked for one video they didn’t tell me I was gonna get 7 ! What??!?!?’ he tweeted. ‘Man! I could’ve got one of those photos of me trynna hold 7 AMAS like a G if I was there!’
Scroll below for video
All hail the king: Bruno Mars, 32, was the big winner of the evening, taking home seven of eight American Music Awards he was nominated for. The artist could not be there in person, as he’s on tour in Brazil, but sent a video message and tweets to celebrate his windfall
Mars took home the honors for Artist Of The Year, and Favorite Male Artist in both the Soul/R&B and Pop/Rock categories. His album 24k Magic was the winner for Favorite Album in both the Soul/R&B and Pop/Rock categories, while his song That’s What I Like was both the Favorite Song and Video Of The Year.
The Grammy-winning star, who was playing at the Praça da Apoteose in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was able to lend his presence in a special clip he recorded for the show.
‘That’s the profile of the Artist Of The Year!’ he said, as he was initially seated from his side. ‘Thank you, AMAs, thank you, hooligans.
‘I wish I could be partying with you right now. But I’m a million miles away … please forgive me, I will be back, and we’ll be jamming very shortly.’
Coming soon: The critically-acclaimed artist assured his fans, ‘We’ll be jamming very shortly’
Hitting on all cylinders: Mars took home the honors for Artist Of The Year, and Favorite Male Artist in both the Soul/R&B and Pop/Rock categories
Elated: Mars took to Twitter to express his shock over his dominance at the ceremony
Bearer of good tidings: Jared Leto announced Mars’ win for Artist of the Year
The only category Mars lost out on, in which he was nominated, was Favorite Artist in Adult Contemporary, which went to Shawn Mendes.
Keith Urban was another big winner on the evening, claiming three awards, all in the country genre: Favorite Male Artist, Favorite Song for Blue Ain’t Your Color and Favorite Album for Ripcord.
The triumphant crooner said in accepting the honors, ‘To the fans, you are the best in the world, I love you guys more than you know.’
Handful: Country superstar Keith Urban had his hands full with three trophies on the evening
Weighing him down: Urban beamed amid his evening in the winner’s circle
Grateful: The performer told his fans, ‘I love you guys more than you know,’ as he accepted the honors for Favorite Male Artist in country
The thrill of victory: DJ Khaled was elated as he posed with his trophy for I’m The One, which was named the Favorite Song in Rap/Hip-Hop
Lady Gaga was the Favorite Female Pop/Rock Artist
Diana Ross was given the Lifetime Achievement Award, Beyonce won the Favorite Female Artist in Soul/R&B, Lady Gaga took home the honors for Favorite Female Artist in Pop/Rock, while Carrie Underwood snagged the honors in the country genre. Shakira nabbed the Favorite Artist in the Latin category.
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have enjoyed international success with their smash hit collaboration Despacito in 2017, and the trend continued on Sunday, as the Puerto Rico natives collected two awards for the single: for Favorite Song in Pop/Rock, as well as Collaboration Of The Year for the version with Justin Bieber.
The Biebs also reigned victorious in his collaboration with DJ Khaled, I’m The One, which also featured Chance the Rapper, Quavo and Lil Wayne.
Icon: Diana Ross looked stunning as she posed with the trophy for the Lifetime Achievement Award
On the upswing: Niall Horan acheived another career milestone as he accepted the honors for New Artist Of The Year
Bittersweet: Linkin Park’s (L-R) Rob Bourdon, Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson were snapped accepting the award for Favorite Artist in Alternative Rock, about four months after the group’s singer Chester Bennington tragically took his own life.
Other notable victors on Sunday were Drake for Favorite Artist in Rap/Hip-Hop, while Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN was the Favorite Album in the genre.
Niall Horan won New Artist Of The Year, Coldplay was awarded with Tour of the Year, and Little Big Town won the country award for Favorite Duo Or Group.
On a bittersweet note, Linkin Park won the honors for Alternative Rock’s Favorite Artist, about four months after the group’s singer Chester Bennington tragically took his own life.