Bad Bunny tops list of American Music Award nominees

Bad Bunny is in good company as the acclaimed música urbana star received more nominations than Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Drake or other industry powerhouses for this year's American Music Awards. The fan-voted accolades from Dick Clark Productions and ABC, airing live Nov. 20, announced its 2022 nominations on Thursday.

Leading the pack with eight nods, the Puerto Rican performer born Benito António Martínez Ocasio, 28, is up for artist of the year, favorite touring artist, favorite male pop artist, favorite male Latin artist and other awards. Beyoncé, Swift and Drake each got six nominations, with Adele, Harry Styles and The Weeknd each garnering five.

More than 40 artists are first-time nominees, including hip-hop star Jack Harlow and singer Tems, with four nominations apiece, as well as rapper Latto, with three. Single-nomination acts that also were nominated for the first time included K-pop girl group BLACKPINK, singer Anitta and the dance-music supergroup Swedish House Mafia.

Elton John, nominated for collaboration of the year and for favorite touring artist, becomes AMA's longest-recognized artist, being first nominated for top pop/rock male in 1974 at the inaugural awards.

New categories this year are favorite K-pop artist, favorite Afrobeats artist, favorite rock song and favorite rock album.

Fan voting is open via VoteAMAs.com and twitter.com/amas in all categories except favorite K-pop artist, the voting for which opens Nov. 1. 

Nominations were based "on key fan interactions — as reflected on the Billboard charts — including streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay, and tour grosses" over the eligibility period of Sept. 24, 2021, to Sept. 22, 2022, producers said.