Three Black singers, two of Caribbean heritage and the other a Scarborough native of Ethiopian ancestry, were among this year’s American Music Awards winners last Sunday at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles.
Barbados native Robyn Rihanna Fenty received the award for Favourite Female Artist – Soul / R&B. She tweeted “Congrats & thank you to the illest, we won another AMA! Thanks for voting & thank you AMAs for acknowledging me as #favoritefemalesoulrnb.”
Onika Tanya Maraj, professionally known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian-born American rapper and songwriter, won two awards – Favourite Artist for Rap / Hip Hop and Favourite Album, Rap / Hip Hop. She tweeted “You guys are so f’ing EPIC. I love u so much. Thank you.”

Then Scarborough-born Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, won Favourite Male Artist for Soul / R&B and Favourite Album Beauty Behind the Madness. He tweeted “Mind Blown.”
Jennifer Lopes hosted the show with performances by a number of well-known and popular artists including Canadian Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, One Direction, Carrie Underwood, Coldplay and Demi Lovato.
The American Music Awards honours artists in the genres of Pop / Rock, Alternative Rock, Country, Rap / Hip-Hop, Soul / R&B, Adult Contemporary, Contemporary Inspirational, Latin, EDM, Soundtrack, New Artist of the Year Presented by Kohl’s, Song of The Year, Collaboration of the Year Unleashed by T-Mobile and Artist of the Year.
The awards nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected in Billboard Magazine and on Billboard.com, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, streaming, social activity and touring.
These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound. The data covers the reporting period of Sept. 15, 2014, to Sept. 13, 2015.