The Billboard Music Awards are always an opportunity for music royalty to get together and have some fun in an award show with significantly less pressure than the Grammys, and as a result it can often lend itself to epic performances and gossip-worthy moments. This year’s 2015 BMAs did not disappoint. After T. Swift premiered her new music video for “Bad Blood,” a video that we might add you must see, she came out to announce the first musical performance of the night. It was a band which Swift dubbed “one of the greatest rock bands in the world” and a moment later, we heard the sweet, glorious chords of Eddie’s guitar as Van Halen burst onstage, guns blazing. Frontman David Lee Roth, only recently reunited with the band after years of internal feuding and drama, pranced around the stage with a goofy grin on his face, striking odd poses as he attempted to channel the charisma he held in the 1980s. While he might have appeared a bit loopy (let’s talk about that bizarre tracksuit outfit he was wearing), he was still “Diamond Dave” and he had a certain energy that was infectious. Of course the real gem was getting to see Eddie Van Halen, now gray-haired and sporting a beard, just rip into his guitar with nothing held back. They performed their 1984 classic “Panama,” a song which hit the top of the charts a few years before Taylor Swift was even born.
The other big moment of the evening was when the reigning 80s queen Molly Ringwald took the stage, sporting a new blonde haircut that we just adore, to introduce a spectacular tribute to the movie that in many ways defined the ’80s: “The Breakfast Club.” The movie turned 30 this year, but the tribute was just as much for the late John Hughes, who was a close friend to Ringwald. She made a cute quip about wanting to be in Taylor Swift’s club, before revealing the next musical performance: the one and only Simple Minds, whose song “Don’t You Forget About Me” hit number one after it was featured in the film.
All of these ’80s references making you feel nostalgic? We have the perfect Spotify playlist for you.