Selena also made her red carpet debut following her announcement in August that she would like to take a break. The 24-year-old singer reportedly checked herself into rehab and put a halt to her world tour.
Hours after Gomez’ speech, Lady Gaga shared a photo of her and Selena and expressed how proud of her she is for standing up and fighting her battle.
The AMAs also recognized Sting, who received the American Music Award of Merit. The singer sang a medley of his greatest hits on stage. Prince, who passed away earlier this year, won Top Soundtrack Award for “Purple Rain.”
Other big winners that day were duos Twenty One Pilots and The Chainsmokers. The British duo won Favorite Duo/Group for Pop/Rock and Favorite Alternative Artist, while The Chainsmokers took home their first AMA for Favorite Duo EDM award.
The EDM duo also performed their hit “Closer” with Halsey on stage and was reminiscent of their performance during the VMAs.
Former One Direction member Zayn Malik also won the New Artist Award beating Shawn Mendes. E! Online reports that former co-member Naill Horan congratulated Zayn when he won.
Despite great performances and mounting promotion weeks before, this year’s AMAs fell 31% from last year’s audience viewership, hitting an all-time low in the awards ceremony’s history.