Illenium took home the fifth award of the evening at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (May 15), when his independently released album Fallen Embers took the trophy for top dance/electronic album.
While accepting the award — which was presented by actress Liza Koshy — at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the Denver native revealed that the momentous occasion also marked his first time being formally recognized for his music.
He opened his acceptance speech saying humbly, “Thank you guys so much. I’ve never won an award before, so this is cool.”
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Illenium went on to thank his “amazing team” before speaking further on his passion for creating. “Making music for me has always been a really big healing aspect of my life and it’s amazing to share with amazing fans and [to be] here. So thank you guys so much, hope to see you guys soon again,” he said onstage.
The Billboard Music Award-winning project debuted at No. 1 atop Billboard‘s Top Dance/Electronic chart dated July 31, 2021, and logged 34 weeks on the chart. The album also debuted in the top 10 of the Independent Albums chart, arriving at No. 8 last summer, and remained on the chart for two weeks. On the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, Fallen Embers debuted at No. 49 and charted for one week.
The album (which was released via 12Tone Music) is Illenium’s first music drop on an independent label following his departure from Astralwerks Records, which came after the 2019 release of his third studio album, Ascend.
Chatting with Billboard in July, Illenium explained that Fallen Embers is a continuation of the narrative he unveiled with his first three albums. “I love the mythology and a fantasy story stuff,” he said at the time. “[Fallen Embers] is the same universe, but a new phase.”
The Billboard Music Awards are produced by MRC Live & Alternative, a division of MRC. MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.