From 1990 to 2006, the show had the same categories and category names every year. In 2011, for the first time, all of the awards were renamed to "Top [award title]". The "of the year" portion of each category title no longer exists, and many of the awards have been further renamed. Other awards, including both "crossover" awards (No. 1 Classical Crossover Artist and No. 1 Classical Crossover Album) were discontinued. As of 2024, there are three fan-voted categories.
Current categories The general categories are Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Hot 100 Song and Top New Artist. These categories highlighted in each award and other categories are divided by genre.
General •
Top Artist •
Top New Artist •
Top Male Artist •
Top Female Artist •
Top Duo/Group •
Top Billboard 200 Artist •
Top Billboard 200 Album •
Top Hot 100 Artist •
Top Hot 100 Song • Top Hot 100 Songwriter • Top Hot 100 Producer • Top Billboard Global 200 Artist • Top Billboard Global (Excluding U.S.) Artist • Top Billboard Global 200 Song • Top Billboard Global (Excluding U.S.) Song •
Top Touring Artist •
Top Song Sales Artist (since 2016) •
Top Selling Album (since 2018) •
Top Selling Song (since 2016) •
Top Radio Songs Artist •
Top Radio Song •
Top Streaming Songs Artist •
Top Streaming Song (Audio) •
Top Streaming Song (Video) R&B •
Top R&B Artist •
Top R&B Male Artist (since 2018) •
Top R&B Female Artist (since 2018) •
Top R&B Album •
Top R&B Song • Top R&B Tour (since 2017)
Rap •
Top Rap Artist •
Top Rap Male Artist (since 2018) •
Top Rap Female Artist (since 2018) •
Top Rap Album •
Top Rap Song • Top Rap Tour (since 2017)
Country •
Top Country Artist • Top Country Male Artist (since 2018) • Top Country Female Artist (since 2018) • Top Country Duo/Group Artist (since 2018) •
Top Country Album •
Top Country Song • Top Country Tour (since 2017)
Rock •
Top Rock Artist •
Top Rock Album •
Top Rock Song • Top Rock Tour (since 2017)
Latin •
Top Latin Artist •
Top Latin Male Artist (since 2021) •
Top Latin Female Artist (since 2021) • Top Latin Duo/Group (since 2021) •
Top Latin Album •
Top Latin Song •
Top Latin Touring Artist (since 2022)
K-Pop • Top Global K-Pop Artist (since 2023) • Top Global K-Pop Song (since 2023) • Top K-Pop Album (since 2023) • Top K-Pop Touring Artist (since 2023)
Dance/Electronic •
Top Dance/Electronic Artist (since 2014) •
Top Dance/Electronic Album (since 2014) •
Top Dance/Electronic Song (since 2014)
Christian •
Top Christian Artist •
Top Christian Album •
Top Christian Song Gospel •
Top Gospel Artist (since 2016) •
Top Gospel Album (since 2016) •
Top Gospel Song (since 2016)
Others genres •
Top Soundtrack (1993, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2015 – present) •
Top Social Artist (fan-voted) •
Billboard Chart Achievement (since 2015, fan-voted) •
Top Collaboration (since 2017, fan-voted)
Retired categories (1990–2022) • Top Alternative Album • Top Alternative Artist • Top Alternative Song • Top Classical Crossover Artist • Top Classical Crossover Album • Top Country Collaboration (2017) • Top Dance Artist (until 2013) • Top Dance Album (until 2013) • Top Dance Song (until 2013) • Top Digital Media Artist (until 2012) • Top Digital Songs Artist (until 2015) • Top Digital Song (until 2015) • Top EDM Artist (until 2013) • Top EDM Album (until 2013) • Top EDM Song (until 2013) • Top Independent Artists • Top Independent Album • Top Modern Rock Artist • Top Modern Rock Track • Top New Male Artist • Top New Female Artist • Top New Group/Band • Top New Song • Top Pop Song (until 2013) • Top Pop Album (until 2013) • Top Pop Artist (until 2013) • Top Pop Punk Artist • Top R&B Collaboration (2017) • Top Rap Collaboration (2017) • Top Rhythmic Top 40 Title • Top Selling Single • Top Soundtrack Single of the Year • Milestone Award (2013, 2014)
Special awards Artist Achievement Award • 1993:
Rod Stewart • 1994:
Whitney Houston • 1995:
Janet Jackson • 1996:
Madonna • 1997:
Garth Brooks • 1999:
Aerosmith • 2001:
Janet Jackson • 2002:
Cher • 2004:
Destiny's Child • 2005:
Kanye West Artist of the Decade Award • 1980s:
Madonna • 1990s:
Mariah Carey • 2000s:
Eminem • 2010s:
Drake Millennium Award • 2011:
Beyoncé • 2012:
Whitney Houston (award accepted by her daughter,
Bobbi Kristina Brown) • 2016:
Britney Spears Century Award • 1992:
George Harrison • 1993:
Buddy Guy • 1994:
Billy Joel • 1995:
Joni Mitchell • 1996:
Carlos Santana • 1997:
Chet Atkins • 1998:
James Taylor • 1999:
Emmylou Harris • 2000:
Randy Newman • 2001:
John Mellencamp • 2002:
Annie Lennox • 2003:
Sting • 2004:
Stevie Wonder • 2005:
Tom Petty • 2006:
Tony Bennett Icon Award • 2011:
Neil Diamond • 2012:
Stevie Wonder • 2013:
Prince • 2014:
Jennifer Lopez • 2016:
Celine Dion • 2017:
Cher • 2018:
Janet Jackson • 2019:
Mariah Carey • 2020:
Garth Brooks • 2021:
P!nk • 2022:
Mary J. Blige Spotlight Award • In 2012,
Katy Perry was honored with
Billboard's second Spotlight award for being the second and first female artist in music history to have five consecutive number ones singles on
Billboard Hot 100 from
one album.
Change Maker Award • 2020:
Killer Mike • 2021:
Trae tha Truth • 2022: Mari Copeny
Other special awards • 1992: Special Award commemorating the 10th Anniversary of
Thriller:
Michael Jackson • 1992: No. 1 World Album for
Dangerous and No. 1 World Single for "
Black or White":
Michael Jackson • 1993: Special Award for the first single with most weeks at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (14 weeks for "
I Will Always Love You"):
Whitney Houston • 1996: Special Award for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (16 weeks for "
One Sweet Day"):
Mariah Carey and
Boyz II Men • 1997: Special Award honoring "
Candle In the Wind 1997" as the all-time best selling single:
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin • 1998: Special Award for the most No. 1s ever by a female artist (13):
Mariah Carey • 2000: Special Award for biggest one-week sales ever of an album:
No Strings Attached,
NSYNC • 2000: Special Award for biggest one-week sales of an album ever by a female artist,
Oops!... I Did It Again,
Britney Spears • 2002: Special Award for 1982 album
Thriller, which spent more weeks at No. 1 (37) than any other album in the history of the
Billboard 200:
Michael Jackson • 2003: Special Award for Most weeks at No. 1:
Beyoncé (17 weeks with "Crazy in Love" featuring Jay-Z and "Baby Boy" featuring Sean Paul) ==Most wins==