The iHeartRadio Music Awards are back this March for its ninth year to celebrate music’s biggest stars and most played hits of last year. The ceremony will be held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 22.
Among all the nominees, Justin Bieber netted nine nods, leading the pack, while Olivia Rodrigo racked up eight. Bieber’s possible haul includes artist of the year, song of the year, best collaboration, among others. When Bieber’s sixth studio album, Justice, was released on March 19, 2021, it received 48 million streams on its first day on Spotify, and the single Peaches debuted as the number one song in the United States and around the world.
He also happens to be the only artist who has been nominated for two songs of the year. Peaches (with Daniel Caesar and Giveon) and Stay (his collaboration with The Kid LARO) are both in the running. The 27-year-old singer will also battle it out for song of the year with Ed Sheeran’s Bad Habits, Adele’s Easy on Me, Doja Cat featuring SZA’s Kiss Me More, Silk Sonic’s Leave the Door Open, Dua Lipa’s Levitating, Lil Nas X’s Montero (Call Me by Your Name), Ariana Grande’s Positions and Rodrigo’s Driver’s License. If Adele or Sheeran are named the winners, they will be the first two-time winners in the show’s nine-year history in the latter category. Adele took home the award in 2016 for her single Hello, with Shape of You, Sheeran won two years later.
Rodrigo, the biggest breakout artist of the year, once again capped her reign with an impressive eight nominations for her album Sour, including Album of the Year, Best New Pop Artist, and Artist of the Year. She is the sensation of every award this year, but she’ll be up against 2021’s other breakout pop stars like Kid Laroi, Tate McRae, Måneskin, and Giveon. Sour was also the first debut album to spawn two No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100: Drivers License on January 23 and Good 4 U on May 29.
Other artists on the nomination list
Other artists to land multiple nominations include, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Megan Thee Stallion, Ariana Grande, Daniel Caesar, The Weeknd, Five Finger Death Punch, Lil Nas X, Silk Sonic, The Kid LAROI, SZA, Måneskin, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Billie Eilish, BTS, Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Giveon, Tate McRae, Cardi B, AJR, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, The Pretty Reckless, All Time Low, twenty-one pilots, blackbear, Machine Gun Kelly, Moneybagg Yo, H.E.R., Foo Fighters, Pop Smoke, Bad Bunny, and Imagine Dragons, among others.
Where to watch the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards
The iHeartRadio Music Awards 2022 will air on FOX on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at 8 PM ET. In addition to airing on radio stations across the country and on iHeartRadio, the awards show will also be available on the iHeartRadio app.
This year’s show will also include fan-voted awards such as best fan army, best lyrics, best cover song, best music video, TikTok bop of the year, and, for the first time, TikTok songwriter of the year and best comeback album. Voting begins on Jan. 27 and will close on March 15, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. PT for all categories.