# Billboard Music Award for Top Artist

This article lists the winners and nominees for the Billboard Music Award for Top Artist. The award was first given in 1993, entitled #1 World Artist. It was retired during the 1994 ceremony, but returned the following year under the title Artist of the Year. It was later renamed to its current title in 2011. Taylor Swift is the artist with the most win in this category, won the award four times. Swift is also the most nominated artist in this category with ten nominations.
The first artist to receive this honor was Whitney Houston in 1993 due to her massive success of The Bodyguard. Houston also took home a then record breaking 11 awards in one night.

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

### 1990s

| Year | Artist | Ref |
| 1993 |
| 1993 | Whitney Houston | |
| 1994 | — | — |
| 1995 |
| 1995 | TLC | |
| 1995 | Boyz II Men | |
| 1995 | Hootie & the Blowfish | |
| 1995 | Real McCoy | |
| 1996 | | |
| 1996 | Alanis Morissette | |
| 1997 | | |
| 1997 | LeAnn Rimes | |
| 1997 | Toni Braxton | |
| 1997 | Jewel | |
| 1997 | Spice Girls | |
| 1998 | | |
| 1998 | Usher | |
| 1998 | LeAnn Rimes | |
| 1998 | Savage Garden | |
| 1998 | Shania Twain | |
| 1999 | | |
| 1999 | Backstreet Boys | |
| 1999 | Britney Spears | |
| 1999 | TLC | |
| 1999 | Shania Twain | |

### 2000s

| Year | Artist |
| 2000 |
| 2000 | Destiny's Child |
| 2001 | |
| 2001 | Destiny's Child |
| 2001 | Jennifer Lopez |
| 2001 | Nelly |
| 2001 | Shaggy |
| 2002 | |
| 2002 | Nelly |
| 2002 | Ashanti |
| 2002 | Creed |
| 2002 | Eminem |
| 2003 | |
| 2003 | 50 Cent |
| 2003 | R. Kelly |
| 2003 | Sean Paul |
| 2003 | Justin Timberlake |
| 2004 | |
| 2004 | Usher |
| 2004 | Alicia Keys |
| 2004 | Maroon 5 |
| 2004 | Outkast |
| 2005 | |
| 2005 | 50 Cent |
| 2005 | Mariah Carey |
| 2005 | Kelly Clarkson |
| 2005 | Green Day |
| 2006 | |
| 2006 | Chris Brown |
| 2006 | Rascal Flatts |
| 2006 | Nickelback |
| 2006 | Sean Paul |
| 2007 | Rihanna ??? ??? ??? |

### 2010s

| Year | Artist | Ref |
| 2010 | — | — |
| 2011 |
| 2011 | Eminem | |
| 2011 | Justin Bieber | |
| 2011 | Lady Gaga | |
| 2011 | Rihanna | |
| 2011 | Taylor Swift | |
| 2012 | | |
| 2012 | Adele | |
| 2012 | Lady Gaga | |
| 2012 | Lil Wayne | |
| 2012 | Katy Perry | |
| 2012 | Rihanna | |
| 2013 | | |
| 2013 | Taylor Swift | |
| 2013 | Justin Bieber | |
| 2013 | Maroon 5 | |
| 2013 | One Direction | |
| 2013 | Rihanna | |
| 2014 | | |
| 2014 | Justin Timberlake | |
| 2014 | Miley Cyrus | |
| 2014 | Imagine Dragons | |
| 2014 | Bruno Mars | |
| 2014 | Katy Perry | |
| 2015 | | |
| 2015 | Taylor Swift | |
| 2015 | Ariana Grande | |
| 2015 | Katy Perry | |
| 2015 | One Direction | |
| 2015 | Sam Smith | |
| 2016 | | |
| 2016 | Adele | |
| 2016 | Justin Bieber | |
| 2016 | Drake | |
| 2016 | Taylor Swift | |
| 2016 | The Weeknd | |
| 2017 | | |
| 2017 | Drake | |
| 2017 | Adele | |
| 2017 | Beyoncé | |
| 2017 | Justin Bieber | |
| 2017 | The Chainsmokers | |
| 2017 | Ariana Grande | |
| 2017 | Shawn Mendes | |
| 2017 | Rihanna | |
| 2017 | Twenty One Pilots | |
| 2017 | The Weeknd | |
| 2018 | | |
| 2018 | Ed Sheeran | |
| 2018 | Drake | |
| 2018 | Kendrick Lamar | |
| 2018 | Bruno Mars | |
| 2018 | Taylor Swift | |
| 2019 | | |
| 2019 | Drake | |
| 2019 | Cardi B | |
| 2019 | Ariana Grande | |
| 2019 | Post Malone | |
| 2019 | Travis Scott | |

### 2020s

| Year | Artist |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Post Malone |
| 2020 | Billie Eilish |
| 2020 | Jonas Brothers |
| 2020 | Khalid |
| 2020 | Taylor Swift |
| 2021 | |
| 2021 | The Weeknd |
| 2021 | Drake |
| 2021 | Juice WRLD |
| 2021 | Pop Smoke |
| 2021 | Taylor Swift |
| 2022 | |
| 2022 | Drake |
| 2022 | Doja Cat |
| 2022 | Olivia Rodrigo |
| 2022 | Taylor Swift |
| 2022 | The Weeknd |
| 2023 | |
| 2023 | Taylor Swift |
| 2023 | Drake |
| 2023 | Luke Combs |
| 2023 | SZA |
| 2023 | Morgan Wallen |
| 2024 | |
| 2024 | Taylor Swift |
| 2024 | Zach Bryan |
| 2024 | Sabrina Carpenter |
| 2024 | Drake |
| 2024 | Morgan Wallen |

## Multiple wins and nominations
### Wins

4 wins
* Taylor Swift
3 wins
* Drake
2 wins
* 50 Cent
* Adele
* Destiny's Child
* Usher

### Nominations

10 nominations
* Taylor Swift