Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” won song of the year at the 2022 iHeartRadioMusic Awards, which were presented on Tuesday (March 22) at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. LL Cool J hosted the fast-paced, two-hour show, which aired live on Fox.
Lipa wasn’t present, so the biggest category wasn’t presented on-air. But three of the other top winners were present to accept — Olivia Rodrigo for female artist of the year, Lil Nas X for male artist of the year and Silk Sonic for best duo/group of the year. It was the first win in those categories for all three artists.
In accepting his award, Lil Nas X pointed out that he was “delusional” to think he could drop out of school and make it big, come out of the closet at the peak of his career, and record a song about gay lust (“Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”) and have it become a smash hit. “It’s OK to be delusional when you’re chasing your dreams,” he concluded.
Avril Lavigne, who landed her first hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “Complicated,” when she was just 17, presented Rodrigo’s award. Rodrigo was likewise 17 when she scored her breakthrough smash, “driver’s license.” Rodrigo also won the award for new pop artist. And Rodrigo’s pop-punk smash “good 4 u,” which shows the influence of such Lavigne hits as “Sk8er Boi,” resulted in two awards. The song brought Rodrigo the award for TikTok bop of the year, while Camila Cabello won best cover song for her cover version of the smash.
“Stay” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber won best collaboration. It beat, among others, a second Bieber collab, “Peaches,” which featured Daniel Caesar and Giveon.
Luke Combs won country artist of the year for the fourth consecutive year. Drake won hip-hop artist of the year for the fourth time, and Calibre 50 won Regional Mexican artist of the year for…