Billboard unveils the full list of nominees for the upcoming 2018 Billboard Music Award that will take place in Las Vegas on May 20.
Top Nominees
Kendrick Lamar, who recently became the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, leads this year's batch of nominees with 15 nominations. He is in the running for major categories such as Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Rap Artist, and Top Selling Album for DAMN. He was also recognized for his work on the chart-topping Black Panther: The Album soundtrack, which received a nod for Top Soundtrack.
Multiple Grammy-winning artist Bruno Mars also received 15 nominations this year. He will be battling Lamar and many others in the Top Artist category. The 32-year-old also received nominations for Top Male Artist, Top 100 Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, and more.
Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran will be battling Lamar and Mars as the king of the night because he too received 15 nominations. The British star whose most recent album Divide became a worldwide best-seller is in the running for Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Top Billboard 200 Artist, and more.
All three artists have the most nominations from the 2018 BMAs.
Post Malone ends up in second place by having 12 nominations including Top Male Artist, Top 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, and more.
The band Imagine Dragons sits comfortably at the third spot with 10 nods for Top Duo/Group, Top 100 Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, and more.
Drake, who reportedly is working on his next album, will also be battling Lamar, Mars, and Sheeran for Top Artist. He received a total of nine nominations.
Justin Bieber and Cardi B are tied with eight nominations each. Bieber received nods for Top Social Artist. His collaborations with DJ Khaled, Luis Fonsi, and Daddy Yankee got nominations for Top Latin Song, Top Streaming Song Audio and Video, Top Selling Song, Top Rap Song, Top Collaboration, and Top Hot 100 Song.
Meanwhile, Cardi B who recently released a new album got nominations for Top New Artist, Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Top Female Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, and more.
Taylor Swift too, whose newest album reputation dropped in November last year, received a couple of nods from Billboard. She was nominated in five categories including Top Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, and Top Selling Album.
Camila Cabello, Khalid, Halsey, Demi Lovato, U2, Ariana Grande, and BTS also received nominations.
The first wave of nominations was announced by Khalid and Bebe Rexha on Tuesday, April 17, on NBC. Shortly after, the second wave was next announced exclusively on Facebook.
According to Billboard, the 2018 BMAs picked the nominees based on "key fan interactions" that include album and digital song sales, radio airplay, social engagement, and touring. The publication tracked the artist's activities in the aforementioned metrics from April 8, 2017 to March 31.
American Idol winner and The Voice coach Kelly Clarkson will be hosting the event. NBC will broadcast the awards ceremony live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas next month.
