Here Are the 11 American Music Award Moments Worth Watching from 2018

The hottest names in music were ready to get wild on Tuesday night at the 2018 American Music Awards.

Hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross for the second year in a row, the show was a hot one -- filled with performances from Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, Camila Cabello, Mariah Carey, Cardi B, Post Malone, Carrie Underwood, Halsey, Ciara and Missy Elliott and so, so many more.

There was also one helluva tribute to Aretha Franklin led by the one and only Gladys Knight, appearances from presenters including Amber Heard, Macaulay Culkin, Ashlee Simpson-Ross, the guys of "Bohemian Rhapsody," and one singer made history by beating a record previously held by Whitney Houston.

Here's what everyone was talking about on social media.

Fresh off of pledging her allegiance to the resistance, Taylor Swift opened the show with a fiery performance of "I Did Something Bad."

Sporting a sparkly leotard, Swift slithered across the stage as she sang her vengeful track. She brought some choreography with her and one very angry face -- check it out above and some of the social media reaction below.

The "Black-ish" star followed up Swift's performance with one of her own, as she showed off some major moves to a medley of random hits including "Bodak Yellow," "This Is America," "Respect" and Beyonce's "Run the World."

Not only did she pick up the choreography between filming scenes for her ABC show, but she also rapped a bit while rocking a grill in her mouth reading "TER," her initials.

She also announced she'd be wearing black designers all night long.

Twitter ate up her performance:

One person nobody was expecting to see at the awards on Tuesday night: "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin.

The former actor was one of the presenters of the night, looking sharp in a blue suit, flower print shirt and black framed glasses.

He really didn't do anything noteworthy except just be there, that was enough to set off social media.

Mimi popped up to give the debut performance of her latest single, "With You," during the telecast.

Wrapped in a hot pink dress that hugged all her famous curves, Carey belted out the slow jam while surrounded by an army of dancers and even more tulle.

She looked and sounded amazing, even if the performance wasn't all that energetic.

Cardi B brought the fire as she sang "I Like It" with Bad Bunny and J Balvin, but the over-the-top performance left at least one audience member confused.

While the trio rocked out on stage, the camera cut to "Saturday Night Live" alum Taran Killam in the front row, mouth agape in total shock.

Was it a bit? Was he honestly surprised? Likely the former, but his face quickly became a meme.

When Halsey, Benny Blanco and Khalid hit the stage to perform their hit, "East Side," they did it in a very non-traditional way.

The stage was set up to look like a full on studio jam session, walls and all. As Khalid began the song, Halsey and Benny sat on the a velvet couch on the stage, Halsey nonchalantly on her phone until it was her time to sing.

And yes, she was actually scrolling through Twitter, live on TV when she did it.

Instead of immediately giving Shawn Mendes his Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist award, Billy Eichner went off script to urge viewers to vote.

"Young people of America, the biggest election of our lifetime is happening," he said into the mic. "Tonight is the final night to register in 20 states in this country. Please grab your friends, tell them to vote"

"Now is the time. If you believe in equality for women – that's right -- for people of color, for the LGBTQ community, if you believe that climate change is real and that we need to do something about it," he added. "Don't let anyone tell you your vote won't count! It counts."

He ended his plea by giving a shoutout to Taylor Swift for urging her fans to do the same.

Rapper XXXtentacion -- real name Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy -- was honored with the AMA for Soul/R&B album, following his death in June.

The rapper's mother, Cleopatra, was on hand to collect his award, stepping up on stage in all black.

Tearing up, she told the crowd, "I am honored to accept this award on behalf of my son. I would like to thank the AMAs, his fans and everyone who made this possible. Thank you guys so much, I appreciate it."

XXXtentacion was killed during a shooting in Florida, he was 20.

Just when the show was starting to lag, Ciara blew onto the scene and broke it down on stage better than anyone else all night.

The amazing dancer rocked out to "Level Up" and had everyone in the audience in awe. She was giving us major Janet vibes as she absolultely slayed her performance.

Missy Elliott joined her on stage and Missy's "Funky White Sister" was even spotted in the audience living her best life (see below tweet).

Taylor Swift made history by breaking Whitney Houston's record for the most wins by a female artist when she was given Artist of the Year. During her speech, she not only thanked her fans, but urged them to vote again.

After saying this trophy represents "encouragement and motivation for me to be better, work harder and try to make you guys proud as I possibly can," she got political.

"This award and every single award given out tonight were voted on by the people and you know what else is voted on by the people, is the midterms elections on November 6. Get on a vote!"

After the MTV Video Music Awards really dropped the ball when it came to its Aretha Franklin tribute by bringing Madonna in to ramble about herself, the AMAs were determined to do it right. And that they did.

The show ended with a lengthy tribute to the late, legendary singer, which included performances from Gladys Knight, Ledisi, Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans.

THIS was the performance that got everyone up on their feet and brought down the house.

Want more AMA action? Watch "RuPaul's Drag Race" alums Kimora Blac and Mariah Balenciaga weigh in on AMA style from stars including Taylor Swift, Halsey, Tyra Banks and Jennifer Lopez!