Taylor Swift, fun. and Maroon 5 all led the way heading into the Las Vegas ceremony with 11 nods each, but it quickly became clear that the night belonged to the blonde star as she dominated the prizegiving from the offset.
She entered the MGM Grand Garden Arena a six-time winner from the pre-show announcements alone, claiming accolades such as Top Country Artist, Top Country Album for Red and Top Country Song for We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, while she beat Adele, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Carly Rae Jepsen to be named Top Female Artist.
The singer added a further two trophies to her impressive haul during the big event itself, hosted by Tracy Morgan, but she wasn’t the only one celebrating – Justin Bieber was another main Billboard honouree.
The Baby hitmaker fought off competition from Drake, Bruno Mars, Flo Rida and Jason Aldean to claim the Top Male Artist award, in addition to the Top Social Artist title and the inaugural Milestone Award, which was voted for by fans.
Accepting her honour for her Mdna world tour, the Material Girl said, "They say that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it took several international villages to put my show together and I would be here all night if I was to specifically thank all the people who were there to walk through the fire with me."