Drake won his first ever American Music Award on Sunday night — and he got it from a former Degrassi: The Next Generation co-star!
The Toronto rapper collected the trophy for Best Rap Hip-Hop Album (for his smash hit Views) from Nina Dobrev, who was raised in Toronto. She played Mia Jones on Degrassi: TNG from 2006 to 2009 and Drake played Jimmy Brooks.
“Thank you very much,” said Drake, sporting shades, before mentioning “all the producers” who worked on the album.
MORE: See All The American Music Awards Nominations
“I want to thank the city of Toronto and, of course, I want to thank the fans and my parents,” Drake added. “Thanks a lot, it means a lot.”
The rap star’s father Dennis Graham was in the audience to see Drake win his first AMA.
In the show's second hour, Drake was named winner of Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist.
"For our genre I just like to keep things exciting and keep making music," he said. "Shout out to everybody who's trying to do the same thing."
Drake also picked up the AMA for Favourite Rap/Hip-Hop Song ("Hotline Bling") and shared the award for Favourite Soul/R&B Song with Rihanna (for "Work").
Drake received 13 nominations this year — breaking a record set by Michael Jackson, who had 11 in 1984. Drake had nine previous AMAs nominations.
Drake was also featured in a new Apple Music commercial that premiered on the AMAs. In the ad, he sings along to Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" during a workout. Watch it here.
Also in the first hour of Sunday night's show, Canada's Shawn Mendes performed "Treat You Better" and "Mercy." He (and fellow Canadian Alessia Cara) was up for one AMA -- New Artist of the Year -- but lost to Zayn.
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The Weeknd opened the show's second hour with a sparkling performance of "Starboy."
Canada's Justin Bieber performed "Let Me Love You" in a segment taped in concert last week in Switzerland. Oddly, it was introduced as coming from a concert in Bologna, Italy (where his concert ended about five hours earlier).
The Biebs won AMAs for Video of the Year ("Sorry"), Favourite Pop/Rock Song ("Love Yourself"), and Pop/Rock Album (Purpose), and Male Artist -- beating Drake and The Weeknd.
Canada also got a mention during the show from country act Florida Georgia Line, who flew to the AMAs after performing the night before in Calgary.
Other AMAs winners include The Chainsmokers (who will be part of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in Toronto), Twenty One Pilots (who won a pair), Fifth Harmony, Tim McGraw and Selena Gomez.
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"I don't want to see your bodies on Instagram. I want to see what's in [your hearts]," Gomez said. "I'm not trying to get validation, nor do I need it anymore."
The singer explained why she stepped out of the spotlight and thanked her fans for their loyalty. "If you are broken, you do not have to stay broken," she said. "That's one thing you should know about me. I care about people."
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The night's top prize, Artist of the Year, went to Ariana Grande. It was her third ever AMA.
"I love you from the bottom of my heart," she told her fans. "I hope that I can bring joy to you and make you feel unified and happy."
Check out all the winners below:
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Justin Bieber
Selena Gomez
WINNER Ariana Grande
Rihanna
Carrie Underwood
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Alessia Cara
The Chainsmokers
DNCE
Shawn Mendes
WINNER ZAYN
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
The Chainsmokers Featuring Daya - “Don’t Let Me Down”
Drake Featuring Wizkid & Kyla - “One Dance”
WINNER Fifth Harmony Featuring Ty Dolla $ign - “Work From Home”
Rihanna Featuring Drake - “Work”
Meghan Trainor Featuring John Legend - “Like I’m Gonna Lose You”
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
TOUR OF THE YEAR
WINNER Beyoncé
Madonna
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
WINNER Justin Bieber - “Sorry”
Desiigner - “Panda”
Rihanna Feat. Drake - “Work”
MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
WINNER Justin Bieber
Drake
The Weeknd
FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Adele
WINNER Selena Gomez
Rihanna
DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
The Chainsmokers
DNCE
WINNER Twenty One Pilots
ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Adele - 25
WINNER Justin Bieber - Purpose
Drake - Views
SONG- POP/ROCK
Adele - “Hello”
WINNER Justin Bieber - “Love Yourself”
Drake Featuring Wizkid & Kyla - “One Dance”
MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Luke Bryan
Thomas Rhett
WINNER Blake Shelton
FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kelsea Ballerini
Cam
WINNER Carrie Underwood
DUO or GROUP – COUNTRY
WINNER Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
ALBUM - COUNTRY
Luke Bryan - Kill the Lights
Chris Stapleton - Traveller
WINNER Carrie Underwood - Storyteller
SONG - COUNTRY
Florida Georgia Line - “H.O.L.Y.”
WINNER Tim McGraw - “Humble And Kind”
Thomas Rhett - “Die A Happy Man”
ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
WINNER Drake
Fetty Wap
Future
ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
WINNER Drake - Views
Drake & Future - What A Time To Be Alive
Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap
SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
Desiigner - “Panda”
WINNER Drake - “Hotline Bling”
Fetty Wap - “679”
MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
WINNER Chris Brown
Bryson Tiller
The Weeknd
FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Beyoncé
Janet Jackson
WINNER Rihanna
ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Beyoncé - Lemonade
WINNER Rihanna - Anti
Bryson Tiller - T R A P S O U L
SONG – SOUL/R&B
Drake Feat.Wizkid & Kyla - “One Dance”
WINNER Rihanna Feat. Drake - “Work”
Bryson Tiller - “Don’t”
ARTIST - ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Coldplay
WINNER Twenty One Pilots
X Ambassadors
ARTIST - ADULT CONTEMPORARY
WINNER Adele
Rachel Platten
Meghan Trainor
ARTIST - LATIN
J Balvin
WINNER Enrique Iglesias
Nicky Jam
ARTIST - CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Lauren Daigle
WINNER Hillsong UNITED
Chris Tomlin
ARTIST - ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC
WINNER The Chainsmokers
Calvin Harris
Major Lazer
TOP SOUNDTRACK
WINNER Purple Rain
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