2021 Billboard Music Awards red carpet: Pink works a plunging fuchsia frock

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The stars dazzled as they kicked off the 2021 Billboard Music Awards in style.

Pink, Alicia Keys, and Saweetie were among the celebrities slaying the red carpet at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday. 

The superstars brightened up the red carpet in their brightly-hued ensembles, consisting of eye-catching shades of fuchsia, pink, and tangerine orange. 

Pink, 41, took the plunge in a dazzling fuchsia gown with a matching pair of chandelier style earrings upping the glam factor. 

The hit-maker glammed up her ordinarily edgy hairdo with a touch of curls.   

She was joined by her two children, Willow, nine, and Jameson, four, who were both looking cool in their own red carpet-ready looks.

Meanwhile, Alicia, 40, bared her gym-honed abs in a blush pink crop top, matching trousers, and billowing jacket hanging over her elbows. 

With her beautiful complexion accented with a natural hue of makeup, the Fallin’ singer was a sight to behold as she made her grand entrance.

Also putting on head-turning display was My Type singer Saweetie, 27, who flashed her cleavage in a princess-style gown adorned with a floral design and tulle skirt. 

Pink, claw-like nails, silver heels, and metallic floral earrings finished off the ultra-glamorous look. 

Doja Cat put on a traffic-stopping display in a black-and-white crop top, billowing sleeves, and flared leggings.  

Priyanka Chopra flashed some leg in a crystal-encrusted sheer dress with thigh-high slit and gold belt.  

The Quantico actress did not let the spotlight stop her from showering her husband Nick Jonas, who is also hosting the show, with affection.

Gabrielle Union looked breathtaking in a plunging white Prada dress that skimmed the floor.

The Bring It On actress complimented the look with a baby pink Coach purse. 

Also working all-white was Padma Lakshmi, who looked stunning in a plunging suit adorned with crystals. 

The Bravo star accessorized the look with an array of silver necklaces cascading down her cleavage.

All eyes were on Megan Fox and her boyfriend Machine Gun Kelly, who did not shy away from packing on the PDA on the red carpet.

The rapper showed off his black tongue as the couple put on a very amorous display.   

Megan dropped jaws in a very revealing black bodysuit teamed with a sheer mesh skirt, putting her fabulous legs on display. 

Turning the red carpet into a family affair, Drake was joined for his big moment alongside his parents, Sandi Graham and Dennis Graham.

The rapper couldn’t have looked any happier soaking up the spotlight alongside his parents, and it’s no wonder why – Drake was the recipient of Artist Of The Decade.   

TikTok star Dixie D’Amelio looked stunning in a metallic halter dress as she posed beside her handsome boyfriend Noah Beck. 

Kelsea Ballerini looked out of this world in a black LBD with star and crescent moon designs.

Kehlani was looking red hot in a dazzling beaded bra top, crimson shrug and matching semi-sheer skirt. 

Celebrities were dressed to impress for another action-packed night of music, hosted by singer Nick Jonas live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.   

It’s the first time the 28-year-old singer and actor has hosted the show. 

Billboard said in a statement earlier this month: ‘This is Jonas’ first time as host of the Billboard Music Awards, which is two years older than he is. (He’s 28; the show launched 30 years ago).’

‘But he’s had lots of awards show experience, including teaming with his wife, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, to announce this year’s Oscar nominations.’ 

Nick – who is taking over from Kelly Clarkson as presenter – joked: ‘Truly an honor to have already received the first preemptive 2021 #BBMAs award. Best host ever?! Wow! Tune-in May 23rd at 8pm ET/5pm PT on @NBC.’  

The Weeknd kicked off the 2021 Billboard Music Awards with the first win of the night for the Top Hot 100 Artist Award. 

It was a triumphant win for The Weeknd, who had recently been snubbed by the Grammy Awards after his album After Hours didn’t receive a single nomination.

Since that kerfuffle, he’s decided to boycott the ceremony, and even after the Grammys eliminated some of its secret committees that determine the nominees he kept up his boycott. 

The Weeknd took to the stage looking dapper in a black overcoat and tie while sporting a close-cropped beard. 

‘It’s been a dark year and you brought light and escape with your music, genius, brilliance, and you deserve this award just as much as I do, if not more,’ he complimented his fellow nominees, including DaBaby, Drake, Dua Lipa and Pop Smoke. 

The Weeknd (real name: Abel Tesfaye) also joked that he was happy to be done wearing the red suit he’s worn in almost all of his music videos and performances in the wake of After Hours. 

The singing sensation won an impressive ten out the sixteen nominations he was up for, including Top Artist and Top R&B album for After Hours.   

The Weeknd sweeps the board with TEN trophies at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards… after his mega-hit album was completely snubbed by the Grammys 

The Weeknd won big at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday evening with a stunning 10 wins and the final award of the night for Top Artist.

The ceremony was being hosted by the injured Nick Jonas, who was making his debuting helming it.

The Weeknd was nominated for the top award alongside the fallen rappers Juice WRLD and Pop Smoke plus Drake and Taylor Swift.

‘What a night it’s been,’ he said, sounding stunned, before sharing kind words for his parents. ‘I want to take this opportunity to thank my parents. I love you guys so much. I am the man I am today because of you, so thank you, and thank you to my fans, of course.

‘I do not take this for granted,’ he added before departing the stage.

Lil Rel Howery presented the first award of the night for Top Hot 100 Artist, which also went toThe Weeknd.

The Get Out star joked that he got Glenn Close to do the Butt at the Oscars, so he was going to try to get Barbra Streisand to do the Tootsie Roll if he ran into her tonight.

It was a triumphant win for The Weeknd, who had recently been snubbed by the Grammy Awards after his album After Hours didn’t receive a single nomination.

Since that kerfuffle, he’s decided to boycott the ceremony, and even after the Grammys eliminated some of its secret committees that determine the nominees he kept up his boycott.

The singer took to the stage looking dapper in a black overcoat and tie while sporting a close-cropped beard.

‘It’s been a dark year and you brought light and escape with your music, genius, brilliance, and you deserve this award just as much as I do, if not more,’ he complimented his fellow nominees, including DaBaby, Drake, Dua Lipa and Pop Smoke.

The Weeknd (real name: Abel Tesfaye) also joked that he was happy to be done wearing the red suit he’s worn in almost all of his music videos and performances in the wake of After Hours.

He had already won seven awards prior to the first on-screen award with Top Male Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top R&B Male Artist, Top R&B Album, Top Radio Song, and Top R&B Song.

He’s nominated for an impressive 16 awards total.

 

The Save Your Tears hitmaker’s acclaimed album After Hours — which was snubbed at the Grammy Awards — is in contention for Top Billboard 200 Album and Top R&B Album.

The 31-year-old megastar is also nominated for Top Male Artist, Top R&B Artist and Top Hot 100 song for Blinding Lights. DaBaby is in the running for 11 awards, while Pop Smoke has posthumously received 10 nominations.

The host Nick Jonas was soldiering through his hosting job despite recently injury his ribs while filming a new stunt-based show for NBC, which is also broadcasting the Billboard Awards.

It’s the first time the 28-year-old singer and actor has hosted the show.

Billboard said in a statement earlier this month: ‘This is Jonas’ first time as host of the Billboard Music Awards, which is two years older than he is. (He’s 28; the show launched 30 years ago).

‘But he’s had lots of awards show experience, including teaming with his wife, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, to announce this year’s Oscar nominations.’

Nick — who is taking over from Kelly Clarkson as presenter — joked: ‘Truly an honor to have already received the first preemptive 2021 #BBMAs award. Best host ever?! Wow! Tune-in May 23rd at 8pm ET/5pm PT on @NBC.’

The ceremony opened with Doja Cat and SZA putting on a candy-colored performance of their song Kiss Me More.

Doja Cat won Top R&B Female Artist before the broadcast even began.

BTS was the next winner of the night for Top Selling Song with its hit single Dynamite.

The K-pop group were featured virtually from Seoul. ‘Thank you for the top-selling song award, which is amazing and huge it’s really an honor to be the winner of such a significant title. We want to share some fresh energy with everyone through Dynamite. We think with this award, we achieved that goal,’ members of the band said.

Top Country Female Artist went to Gabby Barrett, who had already won Top Country Song for her single I Hope and was clearly emotional.

Alicia Keys put on a show-stopping performance with a medley from her debut album, Songs In A Minor.

She was dressed in double denim featuring an acid-wash jacket with flared shoulder pads as she belted out her earliest hits, including probably her most popular song, Fallin’.

Next up was Master Of None star Lena Waithe presenting the award for Top Latin Artist to Bad Bunny, who had already won several trophies.

He wore a chic studded leather duster and gave his acceptance speech in Spanish.

One of the evening’s honorary awards, the Icon Award, was presented to Pink by her good friend Jon Bon Jovi.

The 59-year-old rocker looked youthful with his shaggy hair, wide grin and a cool leather jacket.

Pink put on a sweet performance of her recent song Cover Me In Sunshine, which she duets on with her daughter Willow Sage Hart.

The lovely number featured her and Willow suspending themselves from ropes and doing acrobatics in front of a projected moon.

The singer eschewed her biggest hits at first in favor of songs that showed off her softer side, though that all changed with the first strains of Get The Party Started.

She wore a platinum mohawk with a black sheer dress and a cropped biker jacket.

In her acceptance speech, Pink joked that she tore up Bon Jovi’s poster on his wall and replaced it with Sebastian Bach after he married his longtime wife Dorothea Hurley in 1989.

Lil Baby spoke virtually from the studio to announce the nominees for Top Hot 100 Song, though Nick Jonas announced it back on stage.

The Weeknd was triumphant once again. ‘I want to talk to my fans,’ he began.

‘I want to thank everyone involved in making this magical song. I want to thank my fans, of course. You guys make me want to do this forever,’ he said. ‘I love you so much and I just want to say the after hours are done and the dawn is coming.’

Karol G, who won the award for Top Latin Female Artist before the broadcast, gave her debut performance at the ceremony while dancing atop a Hummer in a white crop top and matching jeans, plus teal hair.

The producer and occasional hype man Swizz Beatz was up next with a short tribute to his friend DMX, who died last month, reportedly of a heart attack brought on by a drug overdose.

He presented the award for Top Rap Song to DaBaby for his single ROCKSTAR, which features Roddy Ricch.

DaBaby accepted the award and turned toward the audience and away from the cameras at first to give them a better view. He celebrated the song becoming the ‘longest-running number one’ single on the Billboard charts for 2020.

Tina Knowles introduced the rapper and activist Trae tha Truth for the second-annual Billboard Change Maker Award, after Killer Mike won the inaugural award the year before.

A video featuring Trae showed his activism as he led huge crowds protesting police brutality and systemic racism.

‘Coming from where I come from, nothing was ever promised,’ he said. ‘I said if I ever got in this position, I’d be there for those in need. Whether it be assisting little homies in music, assisting people in need of relief or whether just fighting on the front line for those who can’t fight for themselves.’

He concluded with thanks for Beyoncé and her mother Tina, whom he said calls him a superhero, before calling for justice for Breonna Taylor.

Padma Lakshmi was on hand in a sparkling white suit to introduce the K-pop stars BTS, who performed their new single Butter from Seoul.

As they did for the Grammys, the vocal group had a stage mocked up that resembled parts of the Billboard set, despite being on the other side of the globe.

Up next, Drake was honored with the prestigious Artist of the Decade Award with his friends and family presenting.

The rapper submitted a video of himself voicing his internal fears about success, before LeBron James listed his stunning chart accomplishments.

‘Are we sure it’s luck? Nine number one albums. Six number one songs. A record 232 songs on the Billboard charts. Forty-five top ten compositions, the most of any artist ever. Are we sure it’s luck? The first artist to debut at number one, two and three simultaneously. More weeks on the hot 100 than Elvis Presley, Elton John, Stevie wonder and Michael Jackson. Most streamed artist of all time. Thirteen Billboard awards, the most ever in one night. Twenty-seven total Billboard awards, the most wins in music history. A record 431 weeks on Hot 100.’

Once he came out on stage, Drake brought a surprise guest: his son Adonis, three.

After admitting that the video was full of braggadocio, he thanked his ‘beautiful family’ and held his son aloft.

‘I want to dedicate this award to you,’ he said as Adonis started crying from all the attention.

Drake gave him a quick kiss before they shuffled off the stage.

Following the acceptance speech, Bad Bunny took to the stage looking luxurious in a furry white coat to perform his song Te Deseo Lo Mejor while surrounded by pyrotechnics.

As Chelsea Handler introduced the nominees for Top Rock Artist — AC/DC, AJR, Five Finger Death Punch, Machine Gun Kelly and twenty one pilots — she joked that those were the names of the marijuana strains she smoked before the show.

Machine Gun Kelly was presented with the award and said this was the first major stage he’d been on to accept an award after releasing his first mixtape years earlier.

‘To the box that society keeps trying to put me in — you need stronger material because you can’t keep me in it,’ he said defiantly at the end.

The Weeknd broke free of the show’s constraints for his performance of Save Your Tears as he was driven around in an ’80s-era red convertible while being chased by dozens of other cars through a massive LA parking lot.

He sang straight to the camera while sitting on the seat back as the cars behind him drove in formations.

He got out of the car and sang from the parking lot as red and white cars and semi trucks drove in circles around him.

Cynthia Erivo shared the nominees for the Top Billboard 200 Album award, which went to the late Pop Smoke, who was shot and killed in a home invasion early last year. Accepting the award for his album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon was his mother Audrey Jackson.

‘Good evening to my American family, and good night to my Caribbeans. I bring you greetings from the land of Canarsie, also known as the Flossy,’ she began, before referencing her son’s killing.

‘I thank you to the fans for honoring the life and spirit of my son, so much that he continues to manifest as if he were still here in flesh,’ she continued. ‘He created music for the kid who has to sleep four-in-a-room, the kid who has to figure out how to get to school each day so he can graduate and make his mom proud. He did this so that 14-year-olds would not have to kill to prove they are somebody. That is the irony in this. So thank you to the Billboard Awards leadership for honoring my young warrior. Bashir Barack Jackson — we call your name.’

Next up, Priyanka Chopra introduced Duran Duran with the announcement of their upcoming album Future Past before they performed a medley of their most popular songs.

Nick Jonas took off his host cap at the end of the show to join the Jonas Brothers for a performance of their single Leave Before YOu Love Me with the masked DJ Marshmello joining them.

The song segued into their song Sucker, with Nick getting to show off his falsetto, before they switched to their 2019 single Only Human.

Meghan Thee Stallion landed nine nods, including Top Rap Song and Top Selling Song for Savage, though she only won for Top Female Rap Artist.

The Hot Girl Summer hitmaker was competing against herself in the two categories, as her Cardi B collaboration ‘WAP’ is also nominated for the two awards.

That song sat out the nominations at this year’s Grammys ceremony in favor of waiting until Cardi includes it on her upcoming album.

Taylor Swift — who was up for four prizes in total — went head-to-head with The Weeknd’s After Hours Lil Baby’s My Turn and the late Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die for Top Billboard 200 Album.

She emerged triumphant while also winning Top Female Artist.