Queen Latifah Energizes 2026 AMAs, Paving Way for BTS Awards Show Comeback

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Queen Latifah held court at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday night as the host of the 2026 American Music Awards . Donning a white, feathery ensemble, the “U.N.I.T.Y.” rapper-actress, who will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year, kicked off the show by introducing a pre-taped BTS performance from the K-pop group’s concert the night before.

The BTS boys — Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jung Kook — rocked all black leather as they did a live version of “Hooligan” flanked by a flock of ninjas and pyrotechnics.

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Moments later, Latifah returned to the stage dressed in head-to-toe red and tapped into her MC skills with, “The energy is crazy in here! Make some noise!” She went on to highlight several of her career milestones, including her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She also encouraged the audience to donate to several military organizations in support of Memorial Day.

From there, she pointed out nominees like Riley Green, sombr and Billy Idol, who is set to receive the lifetime achievement award later in the evening. Later Latifah returned, from the audience, where she spotted Goo Goo Dolls’ frontman John Reznick and the two briefly duetted to the group’s hit “Iris,” nominated for best throwback song this year, as the audience joined in.

Taylor Swift leads with eight nominations, with Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Dean and sombr following closely behind with seven nominations each.

The American Music Awards were created by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Corporation, The Hollywood Reporter ‘s parent company, in a subsidiary joint venture between Penske Media and Eldridge.

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_Originally reported by [Hollywood Reporter Music](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/music/music-news/queen-latifah-2026-amas-host-hypes-up-crowd-1236605652/)._