The Biggest Winners in Billboard Music Award History

Taylor Swift with all her Billboard Music Awards
Photo credit Jason Merritt
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Over the last few decades, the Billboard Music Awards have given out a lot of trophies, but some artists seem to take the stage and grab them again and again. In order to pay tribute to these repeat (repeat, repeat) winners, we rounded up the artists who have won the most awards in Billboard Music Awards history.

Note: The numbers for some artists can be a little funny. For instance, technically Beyoncé has racked up 21 wins, putting her near the top of the list, but half of those wins were as part of Destiny’s Child (the top earning group in BBMA history, mind you). With all due respect to Queen Bey, for simplicity’s sake we’re limiting rankings to the individuals who won awards under their own names.

Mariah Carey (14)

Coming into 2019, Mariah Carey stands at 14 awards, but she’s already scheduled to receive the icon award this year, which will bring her up to 15. Carey’s prime stretched from 1991, when she won top pop artist and top album, to 2005, when she picked up awards for top female R&B/Hip-Hop artist and a trio of prizes for “We Belong Together.”

Drake (15)

Drake has shot up the list of most wins since receiving his first trophy in 2016 for best rap artist (after five straight years of nominations without a win). With 17 nominations in the 2019 BBMA show, he could well topple the top earners this year.

Whitney Houston (16)

Whitney Houston was a force to be reckoned with at the 1993 Billboard awards show. The singer came in hot with the chart-topping “I Will Always Love You” along with the entire Bodyguard soundtrack. She won 11 awards that year, reaching 15 total combined with four wins from 1991. Houston posthumously received her final award, the Billboard millennium award, in 2012 after passing away earlier that year.

Adele and Usher (18)

Adele and Usher make an odd couple in spots 4/5 and the differences in their prime award winning years are stark. Usher started picking up trophies in 1998 when Adele was just 10 years old. The songstress began winning at the BBMA in 2012 just as Usher was losing steam. Still, we’d like to think the artists would graciously share this podium in the middle of the pack.

Garth Brooks (19)

Holding down the country music faction on the top earners list, Garth Brooks racked up his Billboard awards by winning top country artist year over year throughout the ‘90s, while maintaining a solid streak of pop artist and album artist wins as well.

Justin Bieber at the Billboard Music Awards
Photo credit Ethan Miller

Justin Bieber (20)

Bieber started off strong in 2011 with top new artist and top pop album for Baby (as well as a slew of minor awards like top social artist and fan favorite). Since then he has consistently won top social artist, but his major coup came in 2018 with a quartet of wins for “Despacito.” Unfortunately for Biebs, with no nominations in 2019, his second place ranking will be tested this year.

Taylor Swift (23)

Tay Tay has been slaying the BBMA since exploding into the show in 2009 with the prize for female artist of the year. After picking up awards for both top country artist and top country album in 2011 and 2013, Swift’s trophies slowly became more mainstream mirroring the star’s trajectory. She has earned many nominations for top female artist, winning the award in 2013, 2015 and 2018. With two more nominations in 2019, Swift threatens to extend her lead if she retakes top female artist or repeats her win for top touring artist, which she nabbed back in 2016.