2019 Billboard Music Awards' Most Memorable Moments: From Drake's Big Night to Taylor Swift Tearing Up!

Here are all the highlights and standout sets from Wednesday's star-studded awards show.

This year's Billboard Music Awards kicked off at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Wednesday, where some of the biggest names in music came together for a night of amazing performances and emotional acceptance speeches.

From Taylor Swift's incredible opening number to Mariah Carey's heartfelt Icon Award medley and speech to Drake's record-breaking wins, here's a look at some of the night's biggest, best and most memorable moments.

 

BTS on the Carpet

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

The K-pop group basically owned this year's BBMAs, and it started when they made other celebs' day by posing with them on the red carpet. One such lucky star was Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists star Sofia Carson.

 

Taylor Swift Kicks Things Off

The 29-year-old songstress kicked the show off with a dazzling, prismatic performance of her new single, "ME!," with some help from Panic! At the Disco's Brendon Urie, who flew in on an umbrella. The performance was a massive, bombastic display of joy and color that set a perfect tone for the fun night.

 

Kelly Clarkson's Cover Medley

Clarkson celebrated her second year as BBMAs host by opening the star-studded event with a wonderful medley of songs by artists who were nominated at the night's show. One of the funniest elements of her musical monologue came with assistance from Rob Gronkowski, who played a security guard who asked her to move from her seat, jokingly mistaking her for a seat filler.

 

Halsey Gets Emotional

The singer donned a revealing, skin-tight, red leather bodysuit for her performance of "Without Me," for which she was joined by another female dancer for a surprisingly sensual, intimate and heartbreaking interpretive dance number that really tried to do something meaningful.

 

Imagine Dragons Use Their Platform

When the pop-rock group took home the award for top rock artist, frontman Dan Reynolds used their entire time on stage to raise awareness of an important issue facing the LGBTQ community, for which the singer has been an outspoken advocate. "There are still 34 states that have no laws banning conversation therapy," Reynolds shared somberly. "Fifty-four percent of our LGBTQ population live in those states. … Our LGBT youth have double the rate of depression, triple the rate of suicide after conversion therapy. It's not working. It needs to change." The singer urged those listening to contact their lawmakers and become advocates against the practice.

 

Ciara Singing as Her Little Boy Cheers Her On

Ciara took the stage early on for one of the night's most dynamic, sultry performances, and she had her own cheering section specifically for her with her husband, Russell Wilson, and their adorable 2-year-old daughter, Sienna, dancing and singing along from the audience.

 

Drake's 'Game of Thrones' Shoutout

Drake had a lot of big moments during the night's show, but one of the funniest came when he took the stage the first time. While accepting the award for top Billboard 200 album for Scorpion, and after sharing his thanks, he gave a shoutout to Game of Thrones fan favorite Arya Stark for her amazing heroism during last Sunday's Battle of Winterfell. "Hey, shout out to Arya Stark for putting in that work last week!" Drake yelled before laughing and walking off stage.

 

Jonas Brothers Rock the Stage

The Jonas Brothers' performance started with just Nick and Joe, leaving fans wondering where Kevin was for a huge amount of the number. The two Jonas brothers walked around among the audience members, and Nick stopped to give wife Priyanka Chopra a sweet kiss.

However, Kevin made his own explosive appearance when he showed up to a cascade of impressive pyrotechnics, and the trio belted out their new hit, "Sucker."

 

Madonna Wows and Confuses With Holograms

An eye-patch-clad Madonna took the stage with Maluma for a performance of their single, "Medellín," and the experimental performance also included a whole bunch of real backup dancers and holographic CGI copies of Madonna herself, who kept exploding into gold glitter and rose petals, because why not?

 

BTS Wins Best Duo/Group, Have Amazing Night

The K-pop group was met with a massive wave of cheering as they took the stage to accept the award, and RM had some super kind words for their fans, sharing, "Were still the same boys from six years ago. We still have the same dreams, the same feelings, we still have the same thoughts. Let's keep dreaming the best dreams together. I love you all."

Later in the show, the group performed "Boy With Luv" alongside Halsey, and fans couldn't get enough of their flawless choreography and endless charisma.

 

Mariah Carey Gets Some Love

The elusive chanteuse was honored with the Icon Award at this year's BBMAs, and the singer kicked off the segment with a powerhouse performance of some of her most iconic and beloved hits. While her adorable kids sang along with her, it was Taylor Swift who seemed the most overwhelmed, and event a bit misty-eyed.

Later, during Carey's heartfelt and surprisingly emotional acceptance speech, Swift expressed her love even more strongly, shouting, "I love you!" from the audience.

 

Chrissy Metz Loves Kelly Clarkson

Near the end of the night, Kelly Clarkson performed her new song, "Broken and Beautiful," and it seemed to have a real impact on the This Is Us actress.

Metz was seen wiping tears from her eyes as Clarkson belted out the anthemic new single, and it proved to be one of the sweetest moments from the show.

 

Paula Abdul Slayed

No two ways about it: Abdul hit the BBMAs stage and absolutely slayed. From impressive choreography to some downright amazing stunts, and even an appearance from MC Skat Kat, her performance was flawless and everything we could have hoped for.

There was also a moment when she was walking through the crowd and slickly tossed her fedora, which flew off and hit Julianne Hough in the neck, and the moment was comedy gold.

 

Drake Just Kept Winning

With his 17 nominations going into Wednesday night's show, no one doubted Drake would bring home at least one trophy. However, he was made to take the stage three separate times after winning in three different categories, which means, as Clarkson later revealed, he's won more BBMA awards than any other performer ever. The singer also used his third acceptance speech to share a message of love for his mom, and it was impossibly sweet.

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