Santana's "Supernatural" Success at AMAs

On the heels of scoring a whopping 11 Grammy nominations, his Hall of Fame rock band took home the coveted best pop-rock album trophy Monday night at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles for the cameo-packed comeback disc Supernatural.

Upon accepting the award, Santana called music mogul Clive Davis, the album's producer, onto the Shrine Auditorium stage.

"Your music has soared and not only kept a career alive, but soared to heights never dreamed," the beleaguered Arista exec told Santana.

"A lot of people told me they didn't want to work with me because I'm old," Santana countered backstage. "Mr. Davis believed in me. We both believed we had a masterpiece in our belly."

Also fully satisfied were multiple award winners Garth Brooks, Shania Twain and Lauryn Hill, who each scored two trophies. Brooks solemnly accepted his best country male artist and country album awards for Double Liveand reiterated his plans to retire soon to spend time with his family.

"I'm not sure that people don't need a breather from Garth," he said while accepting a special honor as artist of the 1990s. "You look at your three children, and really, that's your calling. Also, Sandy and my relationship deserves the time to be worked on."

Twain won for pop-rock female artist and country female artist; Hill accepted the best soul/R&B female artist and soul/R&B album nods for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Triple nominee Britney Spears scored as the favorite new pop-rock female artist. "This has been such an amazing adventure for me, this whole year," the teenybopper gushed.

Meanwhile, the Backstreet Boys made good on one of their two nods--for pop-rock duo/group.

Notably absent from both the awards list and the event was recent newsmaker Whitney Houston, who tied with Twain and Spears for most nominations. A show spokesperson says her absence has nothing to do with her recent airport flap in Hawaii. Security guards there found marijuana in the diva's bag, but she boarded the plane before the cops arrived.

Another diva, the scantily clad Mariah Carey, accepted an Award of Achievement for her "rare and distinguished accomplishments."

Nominees for the show were chosen by selected music industry reps, and winners were determined by a sampling of the tastes of 20,000 music fans nationwide.

In addition, fans voted on the Internet for the top artist of each decade of the rock era. Elvis Presley won for the '50s, the Beatles for the '60s, Stevie Wonder for the '70s and Michael Jackson for the '80s. Garth Brooks, who has 16 career AMAs, was named artist of the '90s.

Here's a complete look at the night's winners at the 27th American Music Awards:

POP/ROCK Favorite Male Artist: Will Smith Favorite Female Artist: Shania Twain Favorite Band, Duo or Group: Backstreet Boys Favorite Album: Supernatural, Santana Favorite New Artist: Britney Spears

SOUL/R&B Favorite Male Artist: R. Kelly Favorite Female Artist: Lauryn Hill Favorite Band, Duo or Group: TLC Favorite Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill Favorite New Artist: Tyrese

COUNTRY Favorite Male Artist: Garth Brooks Favorite Female Artist: Shania Twain Favorite Band, Duo or Group: Brooks & Dunn Favorite Album: Double Live, Garth Brooks Favorite New Artist: Montgomery Gentry

ADULT CONTEMPORARY Favorite Artist: Phil Collins

ALTERNATIVE MUSIC Favorite Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers

LATIN MUSIC Favorite Artist: Ricky Martin

RAP/HIP-HOP Favorite Artist: DMX

SOUNDTRACK Favorite Soundtrack: Wild Wild West

ARTIST OF THE DECADE: Garth Brooks

AWARD OF ACHIEVEMENT: Mariah Carey

AWARD OF MERIT: Gloria Estefan