South African singer Tyla accepts her Best Afrobeats Artist award at the 52nd American Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday 25 May 2026. Photo credit: tyla in Instagram
South African singer Tyla took home two American Music Awards on Monday evening, winning Best Afrobeats Artist and Social Song of the Year for her hit Chanel at the 52nd AMAs held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. BTS dominated the night with Artist of the Year while Taylor Swift left empty-handed despite leading with eight nominations.
South Africa’s Tyla continued her extraordinary rise as one of the most celebrated artists on the global stage after claiming two awards at the 52nd American Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday 25 May 2026. The 24-year-old Johannesburg-born singer won Best Afrobeats Artist and Social Song of the Year for her track Chanel, joining an elite group of multiple winners on a night that was dominated by BTS and saw Taylor Swift shut out completely despite leading all nominees with eight nominations.
Tyla’s Big Night
Tyla entered the 2026 AMAs with four nominations including Best Afrobeats Artist, Social Song of the Year for Chanel, Best Female R&B Artist and Best Music Video for Chanel. She walked away with two of those four, cementing her status as the leading African artist on the global pop landscape.
Her win in the Best Afrobeats Artist category came ahead of a formidable lineup of competition including Burna Boy, Wizkid, Rema and Moliy, all established names in the Afrobeats genre with significantly longer careers and larger back catalogues than Tyla. Her continued dominance in this category reflects both the extraordinary commercial and cultural impact of her music and the genuine affection global audiences have developed for her work since the viral success of Water in 2023.
The Social Song of the Year award for Chanel recognised the song’s extraordinary performance on social media platforms, where it generated hundreds of millions of streams and became one of the defining sounds of early 2026. The award reflects how completely Tyla has mastered the art of creating music that translates from traditional listening into social media virality and cultural conversation.
Tyla ended the night as a joint top two-award winner alongside Bad Bunny, Ella Langley, Shakira and Zara Larsson, with BTS, Katseye, Sombr, Sabrina Carpenter, Cardi B, Bruno Mars and the singing voices of Huntr/X all finishing the night with three awards each.
BTS Dominate the Night
The biggest story of the 2026 AMAs was undoubtedly the return of BTS. The South Korean septet, recently reunited following mandatory military service, dominated the proceedings from the moment they opened the show with a pre-recorded performance from the Las Vegas stop of their Arirang tour. Their devoted fan army delivered, with the group winning Artist of the Year, Song of the Summer for Swim and Best Male K-pop Artist, giving them three awards for the night.
The Artist of the Year win was particularly significant given the competition they faced, which included global heavyweights Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift. The BTS Army’s organisational capacity and voting power was decisive and the group made the most of their return to primetime American television.
Taylor Swift Shut Out Again
Perhaps the most talked about outcome of the night was the complete shutout of Taylor Swift, who led all nominees with eight nominations but left Las Vegas without a single award for the second consecutive year. Swift already holds the record for most AMAs in history with 40 career wins, ahead of Michael Jackson who has 24. The shutout reflects a shift in fan voting patterns at the AMAs rather than any diminishing of Swift’s cultural presence, with the intense organisational capacity of fan armies for acts like BTS proving decisive in multiple categories.
Other Notable Winners
Katseye won New Artist of the Year and Best Music Video for Gnarly in a strong night for K-pop influenced acts. Sombr won Best Rock Alternative Song for Back to Friends and Best Rock Alternative Album for I Hardly Knew Her in a breakthrough showing. The singing voices of Huntr/X claimed Song of the Year for Golden, the lead single from the animated K-pop series KPop Demon Hunters whose soundtrack also won Best Soundtrack. Sabrina Carpenter won Album of the Year for Man’s Best Friend in a post-show announcement. Shakira won Tour of the Year for her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour. Billy Idol received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Queen Latifah hosted the ceremony.
What It Means for South African Music
Tyla’s two AMA wins come weeks after she was spotted on a quiet Cape Town cabin escape with friends, giving South Africans a glimpse into how she spends her downtime when not collecting awards on international stages. They follow her Grammy win for Best African Music Performance earlier in 2026 for Push 2 Start, making her one of the most decorated South African artists in history across major international award ceremonies.
Her continued success at events like the AMAs, where fan voting plays a significant role, reflects the size and passion of the global fanbase she has built in a remarkably short period. South Africans are proud and they have every reason to be. Tyla is not just winning awards. She is redefining what is possible for African artists on the world stage.
Editors Note All award results referenced in this article are based on official 2026 American Music Awards records as published on 25 May 2026.