The Weeknd to Perform at the 2016 American Music Awards
dick clark productions and ABC announced today that eight-time American Music Award nominee The Weeknd will perform at the 2016 American Music Awards. The news broke via the Facebook page for the American Music Awards, with a superfan getting a tattoo of The Weeknd's iconic XO logo in an exclusive Facebook Live video.
The Weeknd joins previously announced performers James Bay, Fifth Harmony, Lady Gaga, Green Day, John Legend, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes, Twenty One Pilots, special duets from The Chainsmokers and Halsey, and Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, and "The American Music Award of Merit" honoree and performer Sting. The 2016 American Music Awards, the world's biggest fan-voted award show, will broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 20, at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC.
The 2016 American Music Awards marks The Weeknd's third AMA performance. He first took the stage in 2014 to perform "Love Me Harder" with Ariana Grande, and then in 2015 to perform his hit single "The Hills." He is a two-time AMA winner and eight-time nominee, including his three nominations at this year's show: Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock, Favorite Male Artist – Soul/R&B and Artist of the Year.
Starting off his career anonymously, The Weeknd first broke into the music scene with the 2011 mixtape "House of Balloons," followed by studio album "Kiss Land" in 2013 and the widely recognized "Beauty Behind the Madness" that earned him two Grammy Awards in 2015, an RIAA triple-platinum certification for cumulative sales in excess of 3 million, 16 RIAA certifications from tracks alone with "The Hills" [7x-platinum], "Can't Feel My Face" [5x-platinum], "Often" [2x-platinum], "In The Night" [platinum], and "Acquainted" [platinum]. "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)" even garnered The Weeknd his first ever Academy Award® nomination in the category of "Best Original Song." The Weeknd's fourth full-length album "Starboy" is set for release November 25, 2016. The title track featuring Daft Punk broke the record for "Most Release Weekend Streams Ever" upon its release. In less than a week, the single amassed over 17 million streams globally and 6.5 million streams in the United States, becoming #1 Most Added at Top 40, Rhythm, Urban, and Hot AC.
The nominations for the 2016 American Music Awards were announced earlier this month, revealing that Drake leads with 13 nominations, while Rihanna received seven and Adele and Justin Bieber received five nominations each. Beyoncé and The Chainsmokers each received four nominations. Additionally, Bryson Tiller, Twenty One Pilots, Carrie Underwood, Fetty Wap and The Weeknd earned three nominations each.
The Artist of the Year nominees are Adele, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Drake, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Twenty One Pilots, Carrie Underwood and The Weeknd. The ten nominees will be narrowed to five based on the votes received through Monday, November 14 at 8:59:59am PT. Voting for Artist of the Year will close on Thursday, November 17 at 8:59:59pm PT. The winner will be determined by the total votes received throughout the entire voting period.
New Artist of the Year Un-leashed by T-Mobile nominees are Alessia Cara, The Chainsmokers, DNCE, Shawn Mendes and Zayn. Voting for this category opens November 2nd.
