Billboard Music Awards: Drake honours mum as he breaks Taylor Swift’s record for most wins
- Family bonding was a theme at the awards, with Drake turning up the love for his mother, Mariah Carey’s twins cheering her on and Brendon Urie declaring ‘Hey look Ma, I made it!’
Drake gave his mum an early Mother’s Day gift with a heartfelt speech at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, where the rap star also broke Taylor Swift’s record for most wins.
Drake turned up the love for his mum when he picked up top artist, besting Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Post Malone and Travis Scott. He won 12 awards in Las Vegas, bringing his career total to 27 (Swift has 23 wins).
He looked up to the ceiling as he held the trophy and said: “I just want to thank my mum for her relentless effort in my life.
“I want to thank my mum for all the times you drove me to piano. All the times you drove me to basketball and hockey – that clearly didn’t work out. All the times you drove me to ‘Degrassi’. No matter how long it took me to figure out what I wanted to do, you were always there to give me a ride, and now we’re on one hell of ride,” Drake said.
Drake also won top male artist, top billboard 200 artist, top hot 100 artist, top streaming songs artist, top song sales artist, top radio songs artist, top rap artist, top rap male artist, top billboard 200 album and top rap album for Scorpion, and top streaming song video for In My Feelings.
Family bonding was a theme at the three-hour show, which aired live on NBC and was hosted by Kelly Clarkson.
Ciara’s young son and husband, NFL player Russell Wilson, danced along while she worked the stage, and Nick and Joe Jonas gave kisses to Priyanka Chopra and Sophie Turner of Game of Thrones fame when they sang in the audience before hitting the stage. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco looked to his parents as he accepted top rock song, quoting the name of his current hit: “Hey look Ma, I made it!”
Mariah Carey’s twins cheered her on as she sang a medley of her hits and accepted the Icon award. She was in diva form before taking the award from Jennifer Hudson, throwing her napkin on the floor after dabbing her face with it.
“Without getting into all the drama, all the ups and downs of my career … I guess I always felt like an outsider, someone who doesn’t quite belong anywhere, and I still feel like that lost interracial child who had a lot of nerve to believe I could succeed at anything at all in this world. But, and this is the truth, I did believe because I had to,” she said. “The truth is I dedicated my life to my music – my saving grace – and to my fans.”