Usher wins 11 prizes at Billboard Music Awards

Usher holds some of his awards at the 2004 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Picture / Reuters

LOS ANGELES - R&B singer Usher has picked up 11 trophies at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, with Alicia Keys, OutKast and Grammys frontrunner Kanye West also sharing in the spoils.

The awards, which took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, honors artists based on their performance in US music industry trade publication Billboard's weekly music charts, so the outcomes were not surprising.

Usher's album "Confessions" has sold 7.1 million copies in the United States since its release in March. He recently became the first artist in 34 years to top the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart four times in a calendar year. Last month, he swept the American Music Awards and the MTV Europe Awards.

The 26-year-old singer (last name: Raymond) added to his trophy collection with Billboard awards in such categories as artist of the year, album of the year, and Hot 100 single of the year for "Yeah!" (featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris).

"It's been about 10 years since we started, and we knew this would happen," Usher said. "We don't put out a record without a number one record, do we?"

R&B singer Keys walked off with seven Billboard awards, hip-hop duo OutKast five and rapper West four. Usher went into the event with nods in 13 categories, followed by Keys with 12. OutKast and West had seven each.

The day before, West received 10 Grammy nominations, while Usher and Keys will each vie for eight Grammys. Winners of the music industry's most prestigious awards will be announced in Los Angeles on Feb. 13.

In a sign of the times, Billboard inaugurated an award for ringtone of the year, with the prize going to rapper 50 Cent's infectious dance hit "In Da Club."

Stevie Wonder received Billboard's previously announced lifetime achievement honor, the Century Award, with Quincy Jones and fellow Motown alumna Diana Ross turning up to sing his praises.

Performers included Usher, who opened the show, Keys, rock bands Green Day and Evanescence, pop singer Gwen Stefani and rapper Nelly.

- REUTERS