Lifestyle Beauty & Style Red Carpet Style Matching Denim, Naked Dresses and More of the Most Iconic American Music Awards Looks Through the Years The awards were the site of the matching denim dress and tuxedo seen 'round the world By Andrea Wurzburger Andrea Wurzburger Andrea Wurzburger is a former features writer at PEOPLE. She left PEOPLE in 2022. People Editorial Guidelines Published on November 22, 2019 01:36PM EST Close 01 of 25 Whitney Houston & Apollonia Kotero (1986) Ron Galella Collection/Getty The motto of 1986 was clearly, "Go big or go home!" 02 of 25 Cher (1988) Ron Galella Collection via Getty There's something quintessentially '80s about Cher's look. 03 of 25 New Kids on the Block (1990) Ron Galella Collection via Getty The New Kids on the Carpet have woah-oh-oh-oh-oh: the right stuff. 04 of 25 Mariah Carey (1992) Ron Galella Collection via Getty The singer accessorized her rhinestone mini-dress with iridescent stockings. 05 of 25 Dr. Dre & TLC (1994) Ron Galella Collection/Getty We'd say this look is overall a great one. 06 of 25 Shania Twain (1996) Ron Galella Collection via Getty Who doesn't love an all-leather outfit? 07 of 25 Boyz II Men (1998) Ron Galella Collection via Getty The boy band kept it uniform in navy outfits. 08 of 25 Mariah Carey (2000) Mirek Towski/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty The diva started off the millennium in a bold way with this dress. 09 of 25 Faith Hill (2001) Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic The bell bottoms! The choppy bob! The belly chain! Faith Hill really went for it with this 2001 look. 10 of 25 Destiny's Child (2001) Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Throwback to the days where being a girl group meant you dressed in coordinating (but not entirely the same) outfits! 11 of 25 Britney Spears & Justin Timberlake (2001) Frank Trapper/Corbis/Getty The matching denim dress and tuxedo seen 'round the world. 12 of 25 Britney Spears (2001) Frank Micelotta/ABC/Getty And Spears didn't stop matching just because she wasn't standing next to her boyfriend. She stepped out on stage to host the awards in this slinky number! 13 of 25 Lenny Kravitz (2002) SGranitz/WireImage 2002 or 1972? It doesn't matter to this rocker. 14 of 25 Jessica Simpson (2004) KMazur/WireImage When she was still a Newlywed, Simpson wowed on the carpet with a down-to-there jumpsuit with a rather dramatic back. 15 of 25 Kristen Bell (2009) Getty We love Bell's silver two-piece! 16 of 25 Nicki Minaj (2010) Steve Granitz/WireImage When Minaj hit the carpet in 2010, she was anything but bland. 17 of 25 Taylor Swift (2011) VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Swift's star was still skyrocketing in 2011, when she wore this golden gown. 18 of 25 Nicki Minaj (2011) Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic It's not easy being green ... or pink! 19 of 25 Lady Gaga (2013) Barry King/FilmMagic An entrance fit for a princess ... well, Princess of Pop! 20 of 25 Zendaya (2014) David Livingston/Getty The actress channeled the early 2000s in a silk suit and crop top. 21 of 25 Gwen Stefani (2015) Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty Stefani looked somehow both classic and modern in a sheer, black, high-necked gown. 22 of 25 Jennifer Lopez (2015) Michael Tran/FilmMagic Lopez wore a whopping 10 outfits when she hosted the show in 2015, including this barely there naked dress ... 23 of 25 Jennifer Lopez (2015) Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty ... and this cut-out gown, which showed off her abs. 24 of 25 Z LaLa (2016) Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic The Armenian singer's hair defied gravity on the 2016 red carpet. 25 of 25 Cardi B (2018) John Rasimus / Barcroft Media via Getty Cardi B rocked up to the 2018 American Music Awards looking like Mother Nature. What can we say? She likes it like that!