Gabby Barrett, Morgan Wallen Both Win Three At Billboard Music Awards

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Gabby Barrett poses backstage for the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, broadcast on May 23, 2021 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Rich Fury

Last night (May 23) Nick Jonas hosted the 2021 Billboard Music Awards airing live on NBC from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Amidst an array of performances and special honors, country breakout artist Gabby Barrett walked away last night with three awards including Top Country Female Artist, Top Collaboration for the remix of her hit single “I Hope” with Charlie Puth, and Top Country Song with her 2019 debut single, “I Hope.” Barrett was nominated for a whopping nine categories this year including Top Country Artist, Top New Artist, Top Country Album, and Top Radio Song, to name a few.

“Thank you so much!,” Barrett exclaimed from the Billboard Music Awards stage. “Oh my gosh. I’m going to try to keep it together as best as I can. This is a really big deal. This means so much to me. Thank you so much to my team. I’ve been performing for 10 years really hard. My dad and my sister are here, and we’ve worked so hard to get here. Thank you to the Lord Jesus above for everything. Thank you to my husband, my sweet daughter who’s back at home watching.”

Despite being barred from the event due to the incident in which Morgan Wallen was filmed using the N-word outside his Nashville home, Wallen won three awards out of his six nominations, including Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, and Top Country Album for Dangerous: The Double Album. Because the Billboard Music Award winners are determined by performance on the Billboard charts, and are not chosen by a voting committee or membership organization, Wallen was able to receive nominations.

Florida Georgia Line won the award for Top Country Duo/Group, and Carrie Underwood walked away with Top Christian Album for My Gift. Taylor Swift was awarded Top Artist and Top Female Artist of the night, while Pop Smoke took home Top New Artist, and The Weeknd won Top Male Artist.

Although there weren’t any country performances on the broadcast, Kelsea Ballerini helped close out the show by announcing the Jonas Brothers who were the final performance of the night. Ballerini will be hitting the road with the trio this summer on the Remember This tour.

For a full list of winners and nominees from this year’s show, click here.

Lydia Farthing
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