The American Music Awards anniversary show reached 12.9 million viewers

The American Music Awards’ 50th anniversary special event broke viewership records last week. The special broadcast featured performances from Green Day, Mariah Carey, Brad Paisley, Raye and Stray Kids, among others, and marked a significant 54 percent increase in viewership since the awards show last aired in 2022.

The AMAs have been on a brief hiatus since 2022, when they found a new broadcast home on CBS following the end of a long-standing contract with ABC. There was no ceremony in 2023 and the show is currently scheduled to take place in May 2025 over Memorial Day weekend. The anniversary special proved to be a promising holdover, achieving a total reach of over 12.9 million.

The show also received a boost from social media, where clips of Raye performing James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and Stray Kids paying homage to *NSYNC went viral. Other appearances included Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Chaka Khan, Sheila E., Gladys Knight, Kane Brown, Nelly, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, AJ McLean, Jimmy Kimmel, Kate Hudson, Lance Bass and Reba McEntire, Samuel L. Jackson and Smokey Robinson.

No awards were presented during the show, disrupting the fan voting the AMAs are known for. The anniversary special was a purely celebratory event, with live performances and tributes to music legends from James Brown to Whitney Houston filling the hour-and-a-half time slot. The trophies will return when the standard AMAs make a comeback in 2025.

Dick Clark Productions, which produces the American Music Awards, is owned by Rolling StoneThe parent company Penske Media Corporation in partnership with the holding company Eldridge.