Taylor Swift becomes most decorated woman in American Music Awards history

LOS ANGELES -- Taylor Swift made history Tuesday night by becoming the most decorated woman in the history of the American Music Awards with a total of 23 AMAs.

She unseated Whitney Houston, who previously held the title with 21 wins.

Swift, who kicked off the show with a performance of "I Did Something Bad," won a total of four honors including artist of the year at the fan-voted show Tuesday night in Los Angeles. She beat out Drake, Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons and Post Malone for the top prize. (Click here for a full list of AMAs winners.)

Swift kicked off her week with a rare political post on social media. At the AMAs, she continued the conversation by encouraging fans to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

"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?" she asked. "The midterm elections on November 6."

Swift announced on Sunday that she was voting for Tennessee's Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen, breaking her long-standing refusal to discuss anything politics.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.