Some of today’s biggest names in music including Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Prince, Bruno Mars and Miguel are set to perform at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, airing live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on SUNDAY, MAY 19 (8:00–11:00 pm, ET) on the ABC Television Network, sponsored by Chevrolet and Las Vegas. In addition to delivering multiple unforgettable performances, the awards show will also honor Billboard chart-topper and world-renowned music legend Prince with the Billboard Icon Award highlighting his unique journey and history of groundbreaking accomplishments in the music industry during the broadcast, which will be executive produced by Don Mischer. More musical acts and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks. For awards show updates and ticketing information, visit www.billboard.com.
Seven-time GRAMMY®-winner Taylor Swift, who writes all of her own songs, has career record sales in excess of 26 million albums and 75 million song downloads worldwide. With the 2012 release of her album RED, Taylor became the only female artist to twice have an album sell more than 1 million copies in a single week. The success of RED also made 23 year-old Taylor the first artist since the Beatles (and the only female artist in history) to log six or more weeks at No. 1 with three consecutive studio albums. Some of Taylor’s other incredible career achievements include being named Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2011 (the youngest woman ever to receive that honor), and, with 58 Hot 100 hits, she boasts the second-most among women in the chart’s more than 50-year history (trailing only the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin).
Global phenomenon Justin Bieber has sold over 18 million albums worldwide to date, and has amassed over 3.5 billion video views on YouTube, over 52 million Facebook fans and has more than 36 million Twitter followers. Among his numerous chart honors, he’s the only artist ever to notch five No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 before turning 19. His latest studio set, Believe, has granted him three top 10 Hot 100 smashes. Believe follows Justin’s No. 1 Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe (his third No. 1 album debut in just 18 months), My World 2.0 (April, 2010) and Never Say Never: The Remixes (February, 2011). Never Say Never: The Remixes was the accompaniment to Justin’s concert documentary film Never Say Never, which went on to become the highest grossing concert film in US history.
Bruno Mars is a 14-time GRAMMY® Award nominee who has sold over 53 million singles worldwide and has over 1 billion views on YouTube. Since his arrival just three years ago, he’s collected four Hot 100 No. 1 singles and, just last month, his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Unorthodox Jukebox. Bruno’s debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans was released in October 2010 and achieved global success with the hit singles “The Lazy Song,” “Grenade,” and the blockbuster “Just the Way You Are,” which reached No. 1 in multiple countries and won the critically-acclaimed artist a GRAMMY® Award for “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.”
Since bursting onto the R&B scene with his smooth sound at the beginning of the decade, Miguel has posted five Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs top 10s. His ballad “Adorn,” the lead single off his four-time GRAMMY®-nominated sophomore album, Kaleidoscope Dream, catapulted to the top of charts garnering Miguel his third No. 1 hit single and a 2013 GRAMMY® win for “Best R&B Song.” The single has also led the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart for a record 23 weeks and counting.
Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the reporting period of March 12, 2012 through March 10, 2013.
Billboard Music Awards tickets, priced beginning at $75 for Upper Level and not including applicable service charges and taxes, go on sale tomorrow, Thursday, April 4 at 1 pm ET/10 am PT. Tickets will be available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino).