Taylor Swift Dominates iHeartRadio Music Awards 2026, Wins Artist of the Year

After her wins, Taylor Swift is likely feeling pretty enchanted.

Swift accepted the award for Artist of the Year — as well as six other prizes — at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Thursday night (March 26).

Olympic gold medal-winning ice skater Alysa Liu presented Swift with five of the awards, including the night’s top prize. It was a moment of mutual admiration between the Olympian and singer.

“First of all, to receive this award from Alysa,” Swift started her speech. “You brought me so much happiness and everyone else so much happiness with your performances.”

Swift then spoke about her dedication to her craft and how much she loves what she does.

“I love being an artist. I love writing songs more than anything in the world,” Swift said. “And I didn’t think I was an artist when I first started doing it. It was a hobby. It was a hobby, and then it was my favorite hobby.”

The “Opalite” singer continued by speaking about what it was like being a child who enjoyed making music. She shared that she would rush home after school to play her guitar and write songs.

“I was 12 years old, I had the luxury of spending thousands of hours working at my craft, practicing, making mistakes through trial and error, and that was all completely unobserved,” Swift said.

Swift then turned her attention to the musicians in the crowd, referring to them as “ambitious, cool, smart, awesome people who have dreams.” She spoke about what it’s like to create in today’s day and age, where feedback is both instant and constant. Then, talking directly to the crowd of artists, she shared a word of advice and her hopes for all of them.

“If I had one hope for you, I would say that I hope that you get to nurture your hobby and your passion, just between you and that craft, and you give yourself time,” she addressed the audience. “Give yourself time to make mistakes. Give yourself time to hone your craft.”

Swift then concluded her speech with one last bit of wisdom and heartfelt hopes for her peers. “I’m a firm believer that anything you feed your mind, it will internalize,” Swift said. “Anything you feed the Internet, it will attempt to kill, and I don’t want that for your dreams.”

Earlier in the evening, the pop star was also presented with the award for Best Pop Album for The Life of a Showgirl. With seven total wins at this year’s ceremony, Swift — who already held the record for most wins in the awards’ history — brings her overall number of iHeartRadio Music Awards up to 41.

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Taylor Swift Dominates iHeartRadio Music Awards 2026, Wins Artist of the Year

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