AMAs 2025 Recap: A Once-Grand Show’s Lackluster Comeback

Underwhelming Lineup, Saved by an Icon

In its heyday, the AMAs boasted the biggest names in music delivering must-watch performances. By contrast, the 2025 edition leaned on a mix of legacy acts, emerging artists, and social media personalities. Aside from host Jennifer Lopez’s high-octane opening medley and Janet Jackson’s much-hyped Icon Award performance, few truly marquee names graced the stage. Rock legend Rod Stewart performed and received a Lifetime Achievement honor, and Gwen Stefani delivered a fun throwback medley of her 2000s hits. Country star Blake Shelton made his AMAs debut, and Latin pop singer Becky G brought some youthful energy.

Yet the absence of contemporary megastars was glaring. Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, all were nominated for big awards, and none showed up. Billie Eilish dominated the winners list with seven trophies, including Artist of the Year, but she too was absent, accepting remotely due to tour commitments. Fans at home immediately picked up on the dearth of star wattage on stage and in the audience. The arena’s camera panned past influencers and internet celebrities filling seats where music royalty might normally sit. 

The one unquestionable high point was Janet Jackson’s showstopping appearance, which reminded everyone of the AMAs’ former glory. At 59, Jackson proved why she earned the Icon Award, delivering a choreographed medley of “Someone to Call My Lover” (a song enjoying a TikTok-fueled resurgence) and her hit “All for You,” complete with tight dance moves and legions of backup dancers. It was Jackson’s first televised performance in seven years, and it had the crowd on its feet, providing a jolt of nostalgia and genuine excitement in a night otherwise short on thrills.

A Ceremony Missing in Action & Missing Awards

If the performer lineup felt light, the presenter list and guest seating were even lighter. Glance around the room, and instead of the usual constellation of music superstars, one saw a mix of influencers (Alix Earle, Kai Cenat), models and actors (Heidi Klum, Wayne Brady), and a few musicians mostly from past eras or niche circles.

In an unprecedented move, multiple major award categories were simply not presented on air because their winners were absent. Fans were stunned to discover that Album of the Year (won by Billie Eilish for Hit Me Hard and Soft) and Favorite Male Pop Artist (won by Bruno Mars) were among the awards quietly handed out off-camera. Other top honors – from collaboration to even Artist of the Year – were mentioned only in passing or relegated to a ticker, robbing the live show of its usual climactic moments. Instead, the telecast focused on performances and a handful of minor categories, presumably to avoid the awkwardness of empty seats or no acceptance speeches. This decision provoked immediate backlash from viewers and critics online, who felt cheated out of seeing the actual awards part of the awards show.

Instead of talking about who won or a singular show-stopping performance, people were talking about how bizarre it was that an awards show skipped its own awards. Producers likely assumed that announcing awards with no stars to accept them would make for bad TV, but in sidestepping the issue, they arguably made the broadcast even less engaging. 

Freefalling Ratings & Fading Relevance

It’s no secret that televised award shows have struggled to retain audience interest in recent years, and the AMAs are no exception. This year’s turnout and viewership show a continuing downward trend. The last full AMAs ceremony in 2022 drew just 3.3 million viewers – an all-time low in the show’s 50-year history. (For comparison, as recently as 2019, the AMAs managed about 6.7 million, and in earlier years routinely drew over 10 million.) That disastrous 2022 rating led ABC to part ways with the franchise, prompting the move to CBS and a two-year pause. Hopes were high that a “reimagined” AMAs on a new network might reverse the slide. Indeed, CBS first tested the waters with a 50th Anniversary AMA special in late 2024, which nostalgically revisited past highlights. That special averaged about 6.1 million viewers – a 53% jump from the 2022 ceremony, suggesting some audience curiosity lingered for the brand. But any ratings “boost” proved temporary. According to early numbers, the live 2025 telecast struggled to maintain momentum. Even the added streaming availability on Paramount+ and the novelty of a Monday holiday timeslot did not appear to lure back young viewers, many of whom simply caught highlights like Janet’s performance on social media. 

Beyond the raw numbers, the cultural relevance of the AMAs is in question. Once upon a time, winning an AMA or performing on its stage was a milestone in an artist’s career, and the show reliably generated next-day headlines. Today, with big winners like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé not even bothering to attend or acknowledge their awards, one has to ask: Do the AMAs still matter to those at the top of the music industry? The fan-voted format was meant to make this awards show feel more populist and fun than the prestigious Grammys, but if fans themselves are tuning out – and even fan favorites like Swift are absent – the AMAs risk becoming an afterthought.

Conclusion: Can the AMAs Be Saved?

At the end of the night, as Janet Jackson basked in a well-deserved standing ovation and Jennifer Lopez flashed a showbiz smile, the fundamental question lingered: Is there still a place for the American Music Awards in today’s music landscape? 

The 2025 ceremony was meant to be a fresh start, an infusion of Vegas glitz and veteran star power to revive a struggling franchise. Instead, it became a case study in why traditional award shows are waning. Limited star attendance, lackluster performances, and disillusioned viewers are a recipe for cultural irrelevance, and all were on display at this year’s AMAs. The show that once crowned the kings and queens of pop now struggles even to get them in the building. 

There is a cautionary tale here for all live award telecasts: adapt or fade into obscurity. The AMAs’ producers will need to take the avalanche of feedback and seriously rethink their approach. Perhaps that means a more compact, streaming-friendly show and securing actual attendance from the nominees that fans care about most. As of now, the AMAs’ very relevance is on the line. In an era where music lovers can access their favorite artists instantly on TikTok or YouTube, an awards show must offer something truly special to justify its existence. For one night, Janet Jackson gave us a glimpse of that old awards-show magic. But unless the AMAs can build a whole show that lives up to that legacy, it risks being remembered, as one viewer dubbed it, as “the worst ever” – or worse, not remembered at all.