Taylor Swift makes history as most decorated artist at Billboard Music Awards

Taylor Swift celebrated the eve of her 35th birthday by making history at the Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), becoming the most decorated artist of all time.

Going into the Thursday night broadcast, the "Bejeweled" singer was tied with Drake at 39 career wins each. The odds were in her favor with 17 nominations in 16 categories.

"This is like the nicest, early birthday present you could have given me so thank you very much," Swift said after the announcement in a video before kissing one of the golden microphones she won.

The singer-songwriter walked away with 10 BBMAs for her work in 2024 including:

Billboard Music Awards 2024 winners: Taylor Swift, Zach Bryan, Fuerza Regida, more take home honors

• Top Artist

• Top Female Artist

• Top Billboard 200 Artist

• Top Hot 100 Artist

• Top Hot 100 Songwriter

• Top Streaming Songs Artist

• Top Radio Songs Artist

• Top Billboard Global 200 Artist

• Top Billboard Global (excluding U.S.) Artist

• Top Billboard 200 Album for "The Tortured Poets Department"

"Thank you to the Billboard awards," Swift said. "Thank you to the fans, because Billboard is counting your stuff. They're counting what you're listening to, the albums that you're passionate about. So I count these as fan voted awards, because you guys are the ones who care about our albums and come see us in concert."

The Eras Tour mastermind has an impressive 49 career wins. The categories she was nominated for, but lost, include: Top Hot 100 Producer, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Song, Top Collaboration, Top Billboard Global 200 Song and Top Billboard Global (excluding U.S.) Song.

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Miss Americana did not appear at the pre-recorded BBMAs after finishing her record-shattering tour Sunday night in Vancouver. Her magnum opus grossed $2,077,618,725 in ticket sales and was attended by 10,168,008 fans.

Earlier Thursday, she surprised patients, families and employees at a Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Swift went room-to-room to meet with children, take photos and sign her Eras Tour book.

One of the boys told Swift, "I like Travis now," in a video posted to social media. She responded, "Yes, me too. That's an absolute yes on that one. Is he your favorite player?"

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Billboard Music Awards: Taylor Swift becomes most decorated artist