Madonna, Blake Shelton, Rihanna set to perform at 2016 BBMAs

Madonna, Ariana Grande, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Rihanna and Meghan Trainor have all been added to the list of performers at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards hosted by Ludacris and Ciara, and will broadcast live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 22nd at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on ABC. For the first time ever, the show will be aired live for West Coast viewers.

Madonna will pay tribute to her friend and fellow artist, Prince. Grande is set to perform new music, and Shelton and Stefani will take to the stage for the awards show debut of “Go Ahead And Break My Heart,” a song they wrote and perform on Shelton’s new album If I’m Honest.

These artists join previously announced performers Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, DNCE, The Go-Go’s, Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, P!nk, “Kia’s One to Watch” Troye Sivan, Britney Spears, and collaborations with Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign, and Nick Jonas with Tove Lo.  Rihanna will perform an undisclosed song, nearly ten years to the day since her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (“SOS” hit the charts on May 13, 2006 and spent a total of three weeks at No. 1). Meghan Trainor will perform her new smash platinum-selling hit “No,” which has already reached #1 on the iTunes singles chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital songs sales, radio airplay, streaming, touring and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the reporting period of tracking dates March 23, 2015 through March 17, 2016 and Billboard chart dates April 11, 2015 through April 2, 2016.  Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of a musician’s success.
 
The “2016 Billboard Music Awards” sponsors and partners include Comcast, Kia Motors, Las Vegas, Music Choice, T-Mobile and WestwoodOne.

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Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com