Prince
In 1985, the Purple One dominated with his live performance of his insta-classic single "Purple Rain."
Michael Jackson
The King of Pop was joined on stage by USA for Africa members to perform a goosebump-raising rendition of "We Are The World" in 1986.
Whitney Houston
The powerful songstress performed a medley of her own songs at the 1994 AMAs, leaving the crowd speechless.
'N Sync
The epic boy band took to the 2000 AMA stage to knock out a killer performance of their hit "Bye, Bye, Bye."
Britney Spears
Taking over the stage in 2002, Britney treated fans and audience members to a performance of "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman," with clips from her movie Crossroads playing in the background.
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Britney Spears (Again!)
The princess of pop reigned once more at the 2003 show as she put on an epic performance of "Me Against The Music."
Beyoncé
Mrs. Shawn Carter performed her hit song "Single Ladies" and stole the show in 2008.
Adam Lambert
The "For Your Entertainment" singer not only belted out his hit single in 2009 but also courted controversy by kissing a backup dancer and miming sex acts onstage. But, a performance to remember!
Lady Gaga
The queen of shock value didn't disappoint in 2009 when she performed "Bad Romance" and "Speechless" while dressed up in animal bones and a nude bodysuit.
Rihanna
2010 was Rihanna's year to shine, and she certainly did with a medley of her hits "Love The Way You Lie," "What's My Name" and "Only Girl In The World."
NKOTBSB
New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys—a 90s teen's dream come true on the 2010 stage, when they joined forces to form the super group NKOTBSB.
LMFAO
Redfoo and SkyBlu had a killer year in 2011 as they were joined by both Justin Bieber and David Hasselhoff during their performances of "Party Rock Anthem" and "Sexy and I Know It."
PSY
We all remember "Gangnam Style," just as much as we remember his 2012 performance of his hit single—everyone was doin' the dance!
Pink
She doesn't have to try too hard to impress us, but she did with her 2012 performance of her song "Try" featuring an emotional contemporary dance and some cool-looking colored powder.
Miley Cyrus
Who says you shouldn't compete for attention with giant lip syncing cats? The pop singer took to the stage in 2013 with her giant backup singer kitty to belt out her hit "Wrecking Ball" in one of the most memorable performances of the night.
Lady Gaga and R. Kelly
Playing president and sexy secretary suited the duo just fine as they proved in their 2013 performance of "Do What You Want."
One Direction
In their last AMA performance before Zayn Malik's departure, the five-man group dominated the 2013 stage with the epic "Story of My Life."
Nicki Minaj, Jessie J and Ariana Grande
"Bang, Bang"! This trio rocked the AMAs stage in 2014 with their performance full of girl power and talent.
Taylor Swift
In one of her most explosive performances, the pop princess set the stage on fire—literally—during her performance of "Blank Space" in 2014.
Jennifer Lopez
Before the show officially kicked off with her as host in 2015, J.Lo showed off her killer dance moves to a medley including her hit "Waiting for Tonight" and other artists' big tunes, like "Uptown Funk," "Anaconda," "Can't Feel My Face" and many more.
Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth
While singing their hit "Marvin Gaye" these two got their swagger on in 2015.
Céline Dion
In a heart-wrenching tribute to Paris following the 2015 terrorist attacks in Nice, the French-Canadian superstar took to the stage to cover "Hymne à L'amour."
Alanis Morissette and Demi Lovato
You 'oughta know that these two would come to rock, as they proved during a duet on Alanis' 1995 mega-hit for its 20th anniversary at the 2015 AMAs.
Justin Bieber
Performing a medley of his latest hits, "Sorry," "What Do You Mean?" and "Where Are U Now," the Biebs danced in the rain and sang his heart out in 2015.