Fans of metal and heavier music didn’t have much to celebrate at tonight’s (May 25th) ‘American Music Awards‘ ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. While the nominations showed some promise with the likes of nü-metal kingpins Linkin Park, alternative metal standard-bearers Deftones and rising British masked alt metallers Sleep Token being in contention, ultimately it was pop rockers Twenty One Pilots and sombr who took home the hardware at tonight’s ceremony.
Regardless of striking out, 2025 saw Sleep Token‘s latest album “Even In Arcadia” make chart history, with a highly elaborate round of arena touring following. Deftones meanwhile enjoyed a banner year headlining arenas on the back of their tenth studio album “private music“, which opened at #5 on the Billboard 200. Linkin Park for their part continued to tour arenas and stadiums on their comeback album “From Zero” and the deluxe edition of it which saw a release in late 2024.
Notably, tonight’s proceedings mirrored this year’s GRAMMY Awards, where all three artists also went home empty-handed in the end. Here’s the breakdown of tonight’s winners in some categories relevant to readers of this site.
Best Rock/Alternative Artist:
- Twenty One Pilots (winner)
- Linkin Park
- The Marias
- Sleep Token
- Deftones
Best Rock/Alternative Song:
- sombr – “back to friends” (winner)
- Linkin Park – “Up From The Bottom“
- Noah Kahan – “The Great Divide“
- Sublime – “Ensenada“
- Tame Impala – “Dracula“
Best Rock/Alternative Album:
- sombr – “I Barely Know Her” (winner)
- Sleep Token – “Even In Arcadia“
- Tame Impala – “Deadbeat“
- Twenty One Pilots – “Breach“
- Zach Bryan – “With Heaven On Top“
Breakout Tour:
- Benson Boone – American Heart World Tour (winner)
- Kali Uchis – The Sincerely, Tour
- The Marias – Submarine Tour
- Megan Moroney – Am I Okay? Tour
- Sleep Token – Even In Arcadia Tour
