Zach Bryan Rewrites History As First Country Act To Win Top New Artist Award At BBMAs

BBMAs / X

Zach Bryan just made history as the first country act to ever win the award for Top New Artist.

When were the Billboard Music Awards?

The Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), is hosted by Billboard, the music magazine recognized for its weekly charts. This year’s show was broadcasted on Sunday, November 19th on BBMAs.watch, and it featured performances and the presentation of awards at distinctive locations across the country.

Performers included Mariah Carey, Peso Pluma, Karol G, Morgan Wallen, Stray Kids, Bebe Rexha, David Guetta, Tate McRae, and NewJeans. Because of the streaming format, all performances and acceptance speeches were pre-recorded.

Country artists were among some of the most nominated.

Taylor Swift had the most nominations with a total of 20 and Morgan Wallen was right behind her with 17. Zach Bryan was nominated for 13 awards, but had 14 total nominations.  As the night progressed, Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan were among the most awarded across all genres!

Wallen ended up being the most-awarded artist of the night with 11 wins in the following categories: Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Country Artist, Top Country Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Country Album, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Country Song, and Top Country Touring Artist. The 11 awards brings his total tally to 15, placing him being Garth Brooks, who has 20, as the most awarded country artist at the BBMAs.

A lot of Wallen’s wins were in all-genre categories, making it even more impressive.

Zach Bryan makes history.

Zach Bryan added the history-making night, being the very first country artist to win the all genre Top New Artist award. He beat out Peso Pluma, Jelly Roll, Ice Spice, and Bailey Zimmerman in this category.

He also took home Top Rock Artist, Top Rock Album for American Heartbreak, and Top Rock Song for “Something In The Orange.”

Congratulations to Zach Bryan on these well-deserved wins! See the full list of winners here.