When are the Billboard Music Awards? This Sunday, May 23 at 8PM ET / 5PM PT.
Where do I watch? NBC
Who’s hosting, who’s performing, who’s presenting, who’s nominated, and who’s getting special awards? Well, you’ll have to keep scrolling for that!
Who is the host?
Nick Jonas is becoming one of NBC’s go-to-stars as of late serving a coach on the current season on “The Voice,” a new Olympics-related special with the Jonas Brothers coming in July, and now hosting the BBMAs this Sunday, May 23.
Who are the performers?
- P!NK: ICON Award 8-minute medley (including new single “All I Know So Far”)
- The Weeknd: “Save Your Tears”
- BTS: “Butter”
- Duran Duran + Blur’s Graham Coxon: medley including “Invisible” remotely from the Hammersmith Apollo in London
- DJ Khaled + H.E.R. + Migos: “ WE GOING CRAZY”
- twenty one pilots: “Shy Away”
- Glass Animals: “Heat Wave”
- AJR: “Bang!” + “Way Less Sad”
- Sounds of Blackness + Ann Nesby: “Optimistic” remotely from Paisley Park
- Alicia Keys: 20th Anniversary ‘Songs In A Minor’ Medley
- Bad Bunny: “Te Deseo Lo Mejor”
- Karol G: “Bichota” + “El Makinon”
- Jonas Brothers + Marshmello: JoBros Medley including their new single with Marshmello “Leave Before You Love Me”
- Doja Cat + SZA: “Kiss Me More”
Who are the presenters?
- Chelsea Handler – presenting the award for Top Rock Artist
- Cynthia Erivo – presenting the award for Top Billboard 200 Album
- Dixie D’Amelio – presenting AJR’s performance
- Gabrielle Union – presenting the award for Top Selling Song
- Henry Golding – presenting The Weeknd’s performance
- Kathryn Hahn – presenting Glass Animals’ performance
- Kelsea Ballerini – presenting the Jonas Brothers & Marshmello’s performance
- Leslie Odom Jr. – presenting the award for Top Artist
- Lena Waithe – presenting the award for Top Latin Artist
- Lil Rel Howery – presenting the award for Top Hot 100 Artist
- Padma Lakshmi – presenting BTS’ performance
- Renée Elise Goldsberry – presenting the award for Top Country Female Artist
- Swizz Beatz – presenting the award for Top Rap Song
- Tina Knowles-Lawson – presenting the Change Maker Award to Trae Tha Truth
- Priyanka Chopra-Jonas – presenting Duran Duran’s performance
- Jon Bon Jovi – presenting the ICON Award to P!NK
- Michelle Obama – introducing Alicia Keys’ performance
- Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – presenting Sounds of Blackness & Ann Nesby’s performance
- Lil Baby – presenting the award for Top Hot 100 Song presented by Rockstar
Who is being honored with the ICON Award?
P!NK will receive the prestigious ICON Award this year, and she will also perform a medley. In a recent interview on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” she teased that the performance would be 8 MINUTES long. She becomes only the tenth artist to ever receive the honor, joining Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Cher, Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Neil Diamond.
P!NK has accumulated a total of 33 career entries on the Hot 100, including 15 top 10s and 4 #1s, as well as 8 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart. Her Beautiful Trauma World Tour became the highest grossing tour for a woman in the 2010s, as well as the second highest-grossing tour by a woman in Boxscore HISTORY. She’s clearly deserving of icon status.
Who earned the Artist of the Decade Award?
Drake will receive the prestigious Artist of the Decade Award at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards this year. He currently holds the title for most BBMAs wins in history with 27, after he brought that up drastically after winning 12 awards just in 2019. This award is given out to the best-performing artists based on activity on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, the Billboard 200 albums chart, social media data, and touring revenue from Boxscore compiling all this data from December 5, 2009 through September 28, 2019.
In the 2010s, Drake had 9 #1 albums (most of the decade for any artist), 33 top 10s on the Hot 100 (most of the decade for any artist), 6 #1s on the Hot 100, 18 #1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart (most of the decade for any artist), and 69 top 10s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart (most of the decade for any artist), and 10 #1 albums on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.
Drake has a considerable amount of chart records, as well, being the only solo male artist to spend more than 50 career weeks at #1 on the Hot 100, a record 232 Hot 100 entries, a record 45 Hot 100 top 10s, and a record 120 top 40 Hot 100 hits. It’s hard to argue that he was the artist of the decade when you look at the statistics and see all these massive numbers and records.
Who is receiving the Billboard Change Maker Award?
Trae Tha Truth will receive the second annual Billboard Change Maker Award at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards for his philanthropic work and social justice advocacy. He led the march in Houston after George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, he was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky while protesting to demand police officers be held responsible for Breonna Taylor’s death, he founded Relief Gang in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey to provide eid to people in Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and other areas affected by natural disasters, and his nonprofit organization Angel By Nature has donated over $1.5M worth of basic living supplies to 20,000+ people and 7,500+ families in need.
Fellow Houston Ms. Tina Knowles-Lawson will present the The Billboard Change Maker Award to Trae Tha Truth this Sunday. This award honors an artist or group that speaks truth to power through their music, celebrity, and community. They are socially conscious, politically aware, active in their community and charitable with time, money and/or influence to improve the lives of others. Trae joins previous recipient, rapper Killer Mike, who received the first ever Billboard Change Maker Award in 2020.
Who is nominated?
The Weeknd leads the nominations for the 2021 Billboard Music Awards with a total of 16 (yeah, SIXTEEN!) this year. DaBaby (11) and Pop Smoke (10) are right behind him. Gabby Barrett is the most nominated female artist (and a first-time nominee) at the show this year with a total of 9 nominations. She is followed by Megan Thee Stallion who earned the second most nods for a female artist with nominations in 7 categories. See the full list of finalists in all 51 categories here.
Late rappers Pop Smoke and Juice WRLD received multiple posthumous nominations, marking the first time in 10 years that two of the top 10 finalists received nominations after their passing.
Watch the 2021 Billboard Music Awards hosted by Nick Jonas live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 23 at 8PM ET / 5PM PT on NBC!
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