All of Taylor Swift’s Major Moments on the AMAs Stage (2024)

Taylor Swift will take the stage at Sunday night’s (Nov. 24) American Music Awardswith a record 24 winsunder her belt.

As the second-ever Artist of the Decade, the superstar’s winning streakat the annual awards show rivals only Michael Jackson as the most-awarded artist in AMAs history.

Ahead of her (thankfully) career-spanning set, Billboard — who also recently named Swift as the first-ever Woman of the Decade at the upcoming Billboard Women in Music event —is looking back at the singer-songwriter’s meteoric rise on the AMAs stage.

From “White Horse” and a record-breaking six consective wins for country female artist of the year to hergrandiose opening performancesof“Blank Space” and “I Did Something Bad,” check out all of Swift’s most unforgettableAMAs moments from over the years.

2008 – Swift’s debut AMAs performance

While her first nomination technically came the year before in 2007(she lost favorite country female artist for the first and last time to Carrie Underwood),Swift made her debut on the AMAs stage at the 2008 ceremony, delivering a somber rendition of Fearless-era single “White Horse.” The performance marked the then-18-year-old’s first time taking the stage at an awards show outside of the country world. On a stage littered with the romance of hundreds of burning candles, the teenage prodigy proved she didn’t need a knight in shining armor to make a name for herself inthe mainstream music industry. That same night, she also won her first AMA, beating Underwood and Reba McEntire for favorite country female artist.

2009 – Becomesmost-nominated artist of the year

Following the smash success of her sophom*ore album Fearless, Swift dominated the 2009 nominations with a record six nods, taking home five including favorite pop/rock female artist, favorite country female artist, favorite country album, favorite adult contemporary artist and her first win for artist of the year.

2010 – Goes “Back to December”

Taking the AMAs stage for the second time in four years, the star performed Speak Now single “Back To December” on the piano, cleverly interpolating OneRepublic hit “Apologize” into the regret-tinged ballad’s final chorus. While Justin Bieber swept most of the major awards, Swift took home favorite country female artist for the third year in a row, beating out the regular competition ofCarrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert for the trophy.

2011 – Ties with Adele for most wins of the evening

At the 39th annual AMAs, Swfit swept the field — winning in all three categories she was nominated and tying with Adele for the most awards of the night. Adding another favorite country female artist and favorite country album (for 2010’s Speak Now) award to her collection, the star even beat the 21 songstress for her second artist of the year win.

2012 – Debuts“I Knew You Were Trouble” live for the first time

Swift chose the 2012 AMAs as the perfect setting for her first-ever liveperformance of new Red single“I Knew You Were Trouble.” Staging the dubstep-inflectedbanger as an elegant Victorian soiree, the superstar kicked off her performance descending a staircase in a prim white dress before giving into the temptation at the song’s core and transforming intoa seductive red-and-gold corset and wild black taffeta gown during the track’s wobbly second chorus. Over the course of the evening, Swift also took home her fifth statuette for favorite country female artist.

2013 – Wins sixth consecutive award for favorite country female artist

Completing her transformation from country prodigy to full-blown pop star, Swift took home her sixth consecutive award for favorite country female artist at the 41st annual AMAs. She also earned her third artist of the year win as well as nods for favorite pop/rock female artist and favorite country album for Red. The one award she lost? Favorite pop/rock album (to One Direction‘s Take Me Home).

2014 – Opens the show with “Blank Space”; honored with inaugural Dick Clark award for excellence

To celebrate “Blank Space” reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Swift opened the 2014 AMAs with a whimsical performance of her third No. 1 hit.Translating the single’scrazed music video into a live recitation of her “long list of ex-lovers,” a wide-eyed Swift employed pyrotechnics, giant picture frames and a bevy of male back-up dancers to send up her reputation as a boy-crazy serial dater. Later in the evening, she was also honored with a special award at the AMAs, receiving the first-everDick Clark award for excellence from none other than Diana Ross. During her acceptance speech, the superstar called out Spotify by defendingthe value of albums in the era of streaming.

2015 – Wins song of the year for “Blank Space”

2015 marked the first year Swift wasn’t included in the AMAs country nominations, instead earning six nods in the pop/rock and adult contemporary categories. While she lost artist of the year to One Direction and favorite pop/rock female artist to Ariana Grande, the star was awarded the final song of the year trophy for “Blank Space.” (Lasting only three years, the award was discontinued beginning in 2016.) She also accepted the awards for favorite pop/rock album for 1989 and favorite adult contemporary artist.

2018 – Returns to the AMAs

After taking two years off from the awards show circuit amidst a firestorm ofpersonal and professional drama, Swift opened the 2018 ceremony by bringing her record-breaking Reputation Stadium Tour to the AMAs stage with a fiery performance of Reputation fan favorite cut“I Did Something Bad.” The number turned out to be her sole awards show performance of the album cycleand the star swept the four awards she was nominated for, earning her sixth trophy for artist of the year and firstfor tour of the year, as well as favoritefemale artist and favorite album in the pop/rock category.

dick clark productions, producer of the American Music Awards, is owned by Valence Media, which also owns Billboard.