# American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Artist
The American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Artist was the collective name for the [American Music Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-music-awards)' artist-level honors in the pop/rock field, presented in three gendered, and group categories: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist, and Favorite Pop/[Rock Band](https://www.edgepedia.org/rock-band)/Duo/Group. The AMAs, first awarded in 1974 and produced by [Dick Clark Productions](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-clark-productions), describe themselves as the world's largest fan-voted award show[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/). This article covers the pop/rock artist categories, their structure and winners, and the recent renaming and restructuring of the field; it does not cover other genre fields or the Artist of the Year prize.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Award show | American Music Awards, first awarded 1974, produced by Dick Clark Productions[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/) |
| Artist categories in the Pop/Rock field | Male Artist, Female Artist, Band/Duo/Group, alongside Single, Album, and New Artist awards[2](http://rockonthenet.com/amas/gpr.htm) |
| Nomination basis (52nd AMAs) | Streaming, album, and song sales, radio airplay, and tour grosses, tracked by Billboard and Luminate[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/) |
| Eligibility period for the 52nd AMAs | March 21, 2025 through March 26, 2026[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/) |
| Current pop category names | Best Male Pop Artist and Best Female Pop Artist, plus a new Breakthrough Pop Artist category[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/) |
| Latest winners | Justin Bieber (Best Male Pop Artist), Sabrina Carpenter (Best Female Pop Artist), KATSEYE (Breakthrough Pop Artist)[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/) |
| Voting model | Fan-voted, per the show's own description[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/) |
## What the award is and how it works
The pop/rock artist categories honor individual performers and groups rather than individual songs or albums. In the mid-1990s structure that the field long retained, the Pop/Rock genre was divided into Male Artist, Female Artist, and Band/Duo/Group artist awards, sitting alongside separate Pop/Rock Single, Album, and New Artist categories[2](http://rockonthenet.com/amas/gpr.htm).
Nomination and voting work in two stages. Nominees are derived from commercial performance: for the 52nd American Music Awards, nominations were based on key fan interactions including streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay, and tour grosses, measured by [Billboard](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-magazine) and Luminate over an eligibility period running from March 21, 2025 to March 26, 2026[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/). Winners are then chosen by fan vote, in line with the show's positioning as the world's largest fan-voted award show[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/). The evidence available here does not document the specific voting mechanics, such as platform or vote limits, for any given year.
## History and structure of the categories
The AMAs were first awarded in 1974 and have been produced by Dick Clark Productions[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/). From early in their history the show organized honors by genre, and by the mid-1990s the Pop/Rock, Soul/R&B, and Country fields each ran the same template: a Male Artist, a Female Artist, and a Band/Duo/Group artist category, plus [Single](https://www.edgepedia.org/single-music), Album, and New Artist awards[2](http://rockonthenet.com/amas/gpr.htm). For example, the 24th American Music Awards, covering the Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group category among others, were held on January 27, 1997[2](http://rockonthenet.com/amas/gpr.htm).
The parallel design means the pop/rock artist categories are structurally identical to their Soul/R&B and Country counterparts: each genre field splits the artist honor by solo male, solo female, and group, and each pairs those artist awards with song, album, and new-artist prizes[2](http://rockonthenet.com/amas/gpr.htm). The kept sources document this shared structure but do not explain why the split into gendered artist categories was introduced or the exact dates each category began; the rationale is not settled in the available evidence.
## Recent developments
By the 52nd American Music Awards, held in 2026, the pop/rock artist categories no longer ran under the Favorite Pop/Rock Artist names. The field instead presented Best Male Pop Artist and Best Female Pop Artist, together with a newly introduced Breakthrough Pop Artist category[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/). [Justin Bieber](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-bieber) won Best Male Pop Artist, in a category whose nominees also included [Alex Warren](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-warren)[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/) • [3](https://www.theamas.com/winners/2026-winners/), and [Sabrina Carpenter](https://www.edgepedia.org/sabrina-carpenter) won Best Female Pop Artist[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/) • [3](https://www.theamas.com/winners/2026-winners/). The Breakthrough Pop Artist award went to KATSEYE[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/).
The official 2026 winners list also shows BTS winning Artist of the Year, with Sabrina Carpenter among the nominees in that category[3](https://www.theamas.com/winners/2026-winners/). Artist of the Year is outside the scope of the pop/rock artist categories covered here, but it illustrates where the pop field's leading nominees also compete for the show's top prize.
## By the numbers
The 52nd AMAs offer a recent quantitative snapshot of the pop field's competitive landscape. [Taylor Swift](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-swift) led all nominees with eight nominations, followed by [Morgan Wallen](https://www.edgepedia.org/morgan-wallen), Olivia Dean, Sabrina Carpenter, and SOMBR with seven each[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/). Wallen's place among the show's most-nominated acts reflects the nomination system's basis in measured fan interactions across streaming, sales, airplay, and touring rather than genre labels alone[1](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/). Historical win and nomination tallies for the Favorite Pop/Rock Male, Female, and Band/Duo/Group categories are not documented in the kept sources and remain open questions.
## References
1. [Winners Announced for the 52nd American Music Awards](https://www.theamas.com/2026/05/winners-announced-for-the-52nd-american-music-awards/)
2. [Rock On The Net: American Music Awards: Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group](http://rockonthenet.com/amas/gpr.htm)
3. [2026 Winners | American Music Awards](https://www.theamas.com/winners/2026-winners/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music institutions and events › Music awards › United States major music awards › American Music Awards › AMA Favorite Pop/Rock categories*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license