Shawn Mendes Beats Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran For Best Artist At MTV EMAs

Shawn Mendes beat Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran to win the best-artist prize Sunday at the MTV EMAs, while U2 were proclaimed global icons in a show that celebrated London’s diverse culture, from pubs to pirate radio.

Mendes, the 19-year-old Canadian star, also won the best-song trophy for “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back,” to the delight of fans standing in a polite onstage mosh-pit at the city’s SSE Arena. Fittingly, he also took the prize for best fans.

The show, formerly known as the MTV Europe Music Awards, opened with a clip of Eminem performing his new single “Walk on Water” in a London pub. He then emerged onstage in jeans and a black hoodie to perform the slow-burning number live, with Skylar Gray filling in on the duet duties Beyoncé performed on the recording.