First Apple Music Awards honor Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Lil Nas X

Apple  announced its first-ever Apple Music Awards, honoring Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Lil Nas X for their achievements in 2019. The awards are intended to celebrate “the best and boldest musicians” of the year and the “enormous impact they have had on global culture.”

As part of the celebration, Eilish will perform a live concert Wednesday at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. The event, which is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. PT, will be livestreamed.

“The Apple Music Awards are designed to recognize the passion, energy and creativity of the world’s favorite artists,” Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and International Content, said .”The musically diverse group of inaugural winners have sparked deep social conversation, influenced culture and inspired our customers around the world

Artist of the year honors went to Eilish, whose album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? also garnered album of the year honors. Singer, songwriter and rapper Lizzo was honored as breakthrough artist of the year, while Lil Nas X ‘s Old Town Road was named Apple’s song of the year.

The awards are the first in the brief history of Apple Music, which was launched in 2015 to replace iTunes and challenge the likes of Spotify, Tidal and Pandora for domination of the music streaming scene.

Apple said the awards for album of the year and song of the year were based on streaming data, while the other winners were chosen by Apple Music’s editorial team based on artists’ “true passion for their craft, who boldly defy conventions in the category and who embody a sense of humanity.”

Each award recipient will receive a trophy featuring a custom silicon wafer between a sheet of glass and a machined aluminum body.