One Direction were the star turn at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles last night, where they were lucky enough to take home three prizes.

The Brit boys took the artist of the year, favourite band, duo or group and favourite album gongs in the pop/rock categories.

And as they collected the third, Liam Payne gushed: "This is so amazing, I can't believe we've won three and one of them is artist of the year.

"It's amazing because we've worked so hard on these last two albums, I mean we spent a lot of time writing the music and going down and really trying our hardest to really improve and make the music better and better."

The night's other big winner, Katy Perry, was unable to attend due to her touring schedule but sent a video message from Australia.

She won favourite pop/rock female artist, favourite adult contemporary artist and single of the year for Dark Horse.

British star Sam Smith beat Pharrell Williams and John Legend to take the favourite male artist (pop/rock) award - and commented: "Genuinely from my heart, I didn't think I was going to be winning. This is unreal."

There were two awards for Iggy Azalea - who won favourite artist and favourite album for The New Classic - both in the rap/hip-hop categories.

And pop's woman of the moment Taylor Swift didn't go home empty-handed either, taking the Dick Clark Award For Excellence with her.

The full list of nominees and winners is as follows...

Artist of the Year
Iggy Azalea
Beyoncé
Luke Bryan
One Direction - WINNER
Katy Perry

New Artist of the Year Presented By Kohl's
5 Seconds of Summer - WINNER
Iggy Azalea
Bastille
Sam Smith
Meghan Trainor

Single of the Year
Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX: 'Fancy'
John Legend: 'All of Me'
MAGIC!: 'Rude'
Katy Perry ft Juicy J: 'Dark Horse' - WINNER
Pharrell Williams: 'Happy'

Favourite Male Artist - Pop/Rock
John Legend
Sam Smith - WINNER
Pharrell Williams

Favourite Female Artist - Pop/Rock
Iggy Azalea
Lorde
Katy Perry - WINNER

Favourite Band, Duo or Group - Pop/Rock
Imagine Dragons
One Direction - WINNER
OneRepublic

Favourite Album - Pop/Rock
Lorde: Pure Heroine
One Direction: Midnight Memories - WINNER
Katy Perry: Prism

Favourite Male Artist - Country
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan - WINNER
Blake Shelton

Favourite Female Artist - Country
Miranda Lambert
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood - WINNER

Favourite Band, Duo or Group - Country
Eli Young Band
Florida Georgia Line - WINNER
Lady Antebellum

Favourite Album - Country
Garth Brooks: Blame It on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences
Eric Church: The Outsiders
Brantley Gilbert: Just As I Am - WINNER

Favourite Artist - Rap/Hip-Hop
Iggy Azalea - WINNER
Drake
Eminem

Favourite Album - Rap/Hip-Hop
Iggy Azalea: The New Classic - WINNER
Drake: Nothing Was the Same
Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP 2

Favourite Male Artist - Soul/R&B
Chris Brown
John Legend - WINNER
Pharrell Williams

Favourite Female Artist - Soul/R&B
Jhene Aiko
Beyoncé - WINNER
Mary J Blige

Favourite Album - Soul/R&B
Beyoncé: Beyoncé - WINNER
John Legend: Love in the Future
Pharrell Williams: G I R L

Favourite Artist - Alternative Rock
Bastille
Imagine Dragons - WINNER
Lorde

Favourite Artist - Adult Contemporary
Sara Bareilles
OneRepublic
Katy Perry - WINNER

Favourite Artist - Latin
Marc Anthony
Enrique Iglesias - WINNER
Romeo Santos

Favourite Artist - Contemporary Inspirational
Casting Crowns - WINNER
Hillsong United
Newsboys

Favourite Artist - Electronic Dance Music (EDM)
Avicii
Calvin Harris - WINNER
Zedd

Top Soundtrack
Frozen - WINNER
The Fault in Our Stars
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Vol 1

Dick Clark Award for Excellence
Taylor Swift - WINNER