With all the grace of a fart in church, the Billboard Music Awards announced this year’s nominations and the rock categories are…interesting.
Among the nominees in the rock categories are familiar artists like Tool, Slipknot and Metallica. However, Billboard’s definition of “rock” will still leave some scratching their heads as also included in the rock categories are the likes of Imagine Dragons, Tame Impala and Twenty One Pilots. The rock categories and nominees are as follows:
Top Rock Artist
Imagine Dragons
Panic! At The Disco
Tame Impala
Tool
Twenty One Pilots
Top Rock Tour
Elton John
Metallica
The Rolling Stones
Top Rock Album
The Lumineers “III”
Slipknot “We Are Not Your Kind”
Tame Impala “The Slow Rush”
Tool “Fear Inoculum”
Vampire Weekend “Father of the Bride”
Top Rock Song
Imagine Dragons “Bad Liar”
Machine Gun Kelly x Yungblud x Travis Barker “I Think I’m Okay”
Panic! At The Disco “Hey Look Ma, I Made It”
Twenty One Pilots “Chlorine”
Twenty One Pilots “The Hype”
Rock artists also received some recognition in the general categories with Elton John, Metallica and The Rolling Stones up from “Top Touring Artist” and Motley Crue’s “The Dirt” being nominated for “Top Soundtrack.” The full list of those category nominees is below.
Top Touring Artist
Elton John
Metallica
P!nk
The Rolling Stones
Ed Sheeran
Top Soundtrack
“Aladdin”
“Descendants 3”
“Frozen II”
“K-12” by Melanie Martinez
“The Dirt” by Mötley Crüe
The 2020 Billboard Music Awards will air live on Wednesday, October 14 at 8 PM ET on NBC.