Taylor Swift thanks fans for the ‘early birthday present’ as she makes history at the Billboard Music Awards — and more standout moments

Taylor Swift received an early birthday present on Dec. 12, winning 10 Billboard Music Awards — including Top Artist and Top Female Artist — for her work in 2024.

With the new trophies, she surpassed Drake to become the top Billboard Music Awards winner in history. She has a career total of 49 awards. Drake, her closest competitor, has 42.

Fresh off her “Eras Tour” and taking a beat for herself — and to give back, visiting a children’s hospital with boyfriend Travis Kelce in Kansas City this week — Swift did not attend the BBMAs, which were prerecorded anyway. She did share a pretaped message thanking Swifties for elevating her music to the level it’s reached.

Swift said she counted the trophies “as fan-voted awards” because they’re based on the music charts.

“It means the world to me that you guys have embraced the things I’ve made, you know, and the fact that you’ve cared so much about my music,” The Tortured Poets Department singer said.

She also called it “the nicest early birthday present you could have given me,” as she turns 35 on Dec. 13. “It’s exactly what I wanted.”

The BBMAs are certainly not the Grammys, which are around the corner on Feb. 2, 2025. The show was hosted by comedian and actress Michelle Buteau, but completely pretaped. The performances took place in different locations around the world, like Coldplay in Australia, and were packaged together. There was no red carpet.

That said, there were still memorable performances. Linkin Park, back together after Chester Bennington’s death and with controversial new singer Emily Park, gave an energetic performance of “The Emptiness Machine” off their album From Zero. Their fans were feeling it, singing along.

They also won the award for Top Rock Duo/Group & Top Hard Rock Artist.

Coldplay performed their new hit “All My Love” from Down Under, where they are on their “Spheres World Tour.” Their fans also sang along and lights lit up the arena as Chris Martin tapped the keys and sang the poignant lyrics. (The video for the song, starring Dick Van Dyke, dropped Dec. 13.)

The group also had a funny acceptance speech for Top Rock Touring Artist with Martin quipping that they are the “handsomest old man band in the world.”

Jelly Roll seems to be everywhere right now — and we are more than OK with that. At the Billboards, he performed his song “I Am Not Okay” from Beautifully Broken and its lyrics clearly spoke to fans.

Shaboozey was also a highlight singing his hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” on an elaborate ballroom party set. The song, and the fun he brought to the performance, made for a napkin-waving good time.

Other moments of note: Beyoncé won her first-ever country music award by nabbing Top Country Female Artist.

Zach Bryan earned five awards, including Top Rock Artist, Top Country Touring Artist and Top Country Touring Album.

Morgan Wallen was also a winner, collecting four trophies, including Top Male Artist and Top Country Artist. It was a better end to his day than the start. Before the pre-recorded awards show aired on Fox, he was sentenced to seven days in a DUI education center and two years of supervised probation for throwing a chair from the rooftop of a six-story bar in Nashville in April.

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