Ed Sheeran stole the show at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards as he won not only the Top Artist awards but also bagged the Top Male Artist award while Taylor Swift took the top award for Top Female Artist.
Sheeran beat Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars and Post Malone to the Top Male Artist award and the same along with Taylor Swift to the Top Artist award. Swift, on the other hand, won over Camila Cabello, who won the Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Cardi B, Halsey and Demi Lovato.
The ceremony, hosted by Kelly Clarkson, opened with a tribute to the victims of mass shooting at Santa Fe High School on Friday, according to several reports. The singer went on to also state that the children have died for just no reason at all and a tribute is necessary.
Apart from Ed Sheeran, John Legend, Christina Aguilera, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande performed their popular hits getting everybody on their feet. Janet Jackson performed for the first time in nine years with a mashup of her famous hits after she received the Icon Award at the 2018 Billboard Awards.
Interestingly, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran went into the night with 15 nominations each in various categories. The Top New Artist award went to Khalid while Imagine Dragons won Top Duo/Group. Top R&B Artist was won by Bruno Mars along with Top R&B Male Artist while SZA was the Top R&B Female Artist.
Rap sensation of 2017 and 2018, Kendrick Lamar won both Top Rap Artist and Top Rap Male Artist, while Top Rap Female Artist was won by Cardi B. Chris Stapleton won Top Country Artist and Top Country Male Artist while Maren Morris won the Top Country Female Artist. Florida Georgia Line was the winner of Top Country Duo/Group Artist defeating Old Dominion and Zac Brown Band.