Injecting some politics into what is usually a rather unthreatening affair, Green Day used the occasion of their performance tonight at the American Music Awards to slam Donald Trump. During a rendition of their song “Bang Bang” off their latest album, “Revolution Radio”, the group made a slight change to the songs lyrics, chanting “no Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!”.
It’s the latest high profile instance of popular entertainment being used to criticize the President-Elect in the two weeks since his electoral college victory in the 2016 Presidential election. On Friday, Vice President-Elect Mike Pence was loudly booed by the audience at a Broadway performance of Hamilton, then at the conclusion of the show was politely addressed by the cast who asked Pence, essentially, not to be a bigot.
Tonight’s American Music Awards, hosted by Jay Pharoah and model Gigi Hadid, also saw performances by Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, James Bay, Fifth Harmony, Niall Horan, John Legend, Shawn Mendes, Twenty One Pilots, The Weeknd, and more. As for the awards, they were as unsurprising as is normal for the event, with Justin Bieber, Drake, and Rihanna taking the most awards by individual nominees. The full winner’s list is below:
AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD OF MERIT
Sting
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ariana Grande
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR UN-LEASHED BY T-MOBILE
Zayn
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Fifth Harmony Featuring Ty Dolla $ign “Work From Home”
TOUR OF THE YEAR
Beyoncé
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Justin Bieber “Sorry”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Justin Bieber
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP ROCK
Selena Gomez
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
Twenty One Pilots
FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Justin Bieber “Purpose”
FAVORITE SONG – POP/ROCK
Justin Bieber “Love Yourself”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Blake Shelton
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Carrie Underwood
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – COUNTRY
Florida Georigia Line
FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
Carrie Underwood “Storyteller”
FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY
Tim McGraw “Humble And Kind”
FAVRORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Drake
FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Drake “Views”
FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
Drake “Hotline Bling”
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Rihanna
FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Rihanna “Anti”
FAVORITE SONG – SOUL/R&B
Rihanna Featuring Drake “Work”
FAVORITE ARTIST – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Twenty One Pilots
FAVORITE ARTIST – ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Adele
FAVORITE ARTIST – LATIN
Enrique Iglesias
FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Hillsong UNITED
FAVORITE ARTIST – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
The Chainsmokers
TOP SOUNDTRACK
Purple Rain
