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A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE FROM ED SHEERAN, PLUS ZEDD, MAREN MORRIS AND GREY TEAM UP TO PERFORM “THE MIDDLE” ON THE “2018 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS” ON BLUE ANT ENTERTAINMENT
The “2018 Billboard Music Awards” will broadcast LIVE from MGM Grand Garden Arena on MONDAY, 21 MAY, 8:00 A.M. on BLUE ANT ENTERTAINMENT
dick clark productions announced that global superstar Ed Sheeran, as well as chart-toppers Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey will perform at the “2018 Billboard Music Awards.”
Sheeran, a leading nominee this year with 15 nominations including Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Male Artist and Top Hot 100 Song, is in the midst of his worldwide stadium tour and will deliver a special performance on location from Dublin, Ireland. Zedd and Maren Morris – also nominees this year – will be joined by Grey to perform their monster hit “The Middle” for the first time on television.
Sheeran, Zedd, Morris and Grey will join previously announced performers BTS, Camila Cabello, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, John Legend, Jennifer Lopez, Dua Lipa and Shawn Mendes, with collaborations from Christina Aguilera featuring Demi Lovato, Macklemore and Kesha, and Salt- N-Pepa featuring En Vogue, on a night filled with music’s biggest names. It was also announced that global superstar Janet Jackson will receive this year’s ICON Award and will take the stage for a highly anticipated performance of her greatest hits, marking her first performance on television in nine years.
Hosted by “The Voice” coach Kelly Clarkson, the “2018 Billboard Music Awards” will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, May 21 at 8:00 A.M. (7:00 A.M. JKT/BKK) on Blue Ant Entertainment. The three-hour telecast will feature performances from this year’s hottest musical acts, unexpected collaborations and buzzworthy moments that celebrate 60 years of the Billboard Hot 100.
Talent Billboard Chart Facts:
· Current 15-time Billboard Music Award nominee Ed Sheeran has claimed more than 25 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 — including his most recent studio effort, 2017’s ÷ (Divide). The set went on to stellar and sustained chart success, never leaving the Billboard 200’s weekly Top 20 in its 61 weeks (and counting) on the tally. ÷ (Divide) was the biggest album of 2017 in the U.S., according to
· Nielsen Music, earning 3.4 million equivalent album units since its release. The album’s lead single “Shape of You” marked Sheeran’s first No. 1 song on the Hot 100 and went on to rule the chart for 12 weeks and log 33 total weeks in the top 10, the most for any title in the chart’s history. In December, the album’s third single, “Perfect,” began a six-week stand at No. 1 on the Hot 100, making ÷ (Divide) the only album of 2017 with two songs to top the chart. In total, Sheeran’s catalog of songs have tallied over 7.6 billion on-demand streams and sold 29 million downloads in the U.S., while his albums have earned 11 million equivalent album units.
· Since making his Billboard chart debut in 2011, Zedd has been a force in EDM and pop, hitting some of his greatest heights in the past year. He’s notched five No. 1s on the Dance Club Songs chart and four leaders on the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart: “Break Free,” his collaboration with Ariana Grande; “I Want You to Know,” featuring Selena Gomez; “Stay,” with Alessia Cara, which reigned between May and August 2017; and his most recent smash, his Maren Morris and Grey team-up “The Middle,” which has become his longest-leading No. 1, having first hit the top spot in February. The song has become his fourth Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. He’s also earned a pair of Top 40 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, including 2015’s No. 4-peaking True Colors.
· Maren Morris arrived on Billboard’s country charts in late 2015 and has since branched out to multi-format success, thanks, in part, to her crossover smash with Zedd and Grey, “The Middle.” Her debut LP “Hero” launched at No. 1 on Top Country Albums in June 2016 and has spun off four hits on the Country Airplay chart, including the No. 1 “I Could Use a Love Song,” as well as current single “Rich.” “Love Song” became her second leader on the list, following her featured turn on Thomas Rhett’s “Craving You.” “The Middle” has since hit No. 1 on Dance/Electronic Songs and Pop Songs and become Morris’ first top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
· In less than two years, Grey (brothers Kyle and Michael Trewartha) has notched five hit songs across Billboard’s charts, including their current smash, “The Middle,” with Zedd and Maren Morris. Previous to that multi-format hit, the duo teamed up with Hailee Steinfeld for the 2016 single “Starving,” featuring Zedd, which reached the top five on the Pop Songs chart. The tune has earned 620 million on-demand streams on Spotify alone and has been certified triple platinum in the U.S. In addition, Grey has scored three further hits on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with “Crime” (featuring Skott), “I Miss You” (featuring Bahari) and “Adrenaline” (with Zedd).
Multi-platinum, multiple Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has established himself as one of the world’s biggest musical artists with over 26 million albums sold, universal acclaim, and performing to sold out audiences around the globe. His third studio album “÷” (pronounced divide) entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 upon its March 2017 release, and went on to be the year’s biggest album in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music, with equivalent album units exceeding 2.764 million units. “Shape Of You” – the album’s 8x-Platinum lead single – debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2017, held the top spot for a remarkable 12 weeks, and remained in the top 10 for 33 consecutive weeks, the most ever in the chart’s 59-year history. Sheeran dominated Billboard’s Year In Review, standing at #1 on 16 of their year-end charts including Top Artist of the Year and Hot 100 Song of the Year for “Shape Of You,” taking the honor for the second consecutive year (Sheeran co-wrote Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself,” 2016’s Hot 100 Song of the Year). With his 2x-Platinum certified single “Castle on the Hill” also debuting at #6 on the Hot 100 after being released in tandem with “Shape Of You,” Sheeran also became the only artist in chart history to have two singles simultaneously debut in the Top 10. One of the planet’s most popular live performers, Ed has sold out countless headline shows at some of the biggest and most iconic venues around the world, including his upcoming stand at London’s Wembley Stadium where he’s set to perform in front of 320,000 fans over 4 nights. Last year, all 60 dates of the North American leg of his world arena tour in support of “÷” sold out in a matter of minutes, and, this summer, he’ll return for a cross-country stadium tour, kicking off at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, on August 18.
Multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning artist/DJ/producer Zedd made his debut with “Clarity” after signing with Interscope in 2012 and has been breaking down barriers surrounding music genres ever since. His latest single, “The Middle” with Maren Morris and Grey, was declared “catchy as hell” by MTV and Rolling Stone called it “an infectious earworm.” The track has already amassed over 500 million streams and spent five consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Songs airplay chart. “The Middle” is his follow up to his 2017 hit singles “Get Low” with Liam Payne and “Stay” with Alessia Cara. “Stay” earned Zedd his first No. 1 on the Pop Songs chart and his second Grammy nomination. In 2015, Zedd released “True “Colors, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Throughout his career, Zedd has worked with a diverse range of artists to create hits, including Hayley Williams on platinum hit “Stay The Night,” which racked up more than 400 million streams, and Selena Gomez on platinum track “I Want You To Know,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
Twenty-eight year old singer/songwriter Maren Morris has quickly established herself with vocal stylings that reflect her country, folk and pop influences. Armed with sheer talent, honest lyrics and a completely magnetic presence, Morris’ label-debut album, the gold-certified “Hero,” released via Columbia Nashville on June 3, 2016. One week after it was available, “Hero” entered the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at No. 1 and No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, which spans across all genres. With this, the Arlington, Texas native became the first artist in the history of Columbia Nashville to open at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart with a debut album in the Nielsen Music era. Morris’ debut single from “Hero,” “My Church,” set a record at country radio by having the most chart reporting stations to play a debut single by a country artist with 107 stations the week it hit the airwaves, in addition to being certified Platinum by the RIAA. Later in 2016 Morris tied for the most nominations with five at the 50th CMA Awards, including Album of the Year (“Hero”), Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year (“My Church”), Song of the Year (“My Church”) and New Artist of the Year, which she won, marking her first CMA Award. She was tapped by Billboard magazine to receive the Billboard Breakthrough Artist Award at the 11th annual Billboard Women in Music Gala, as well as being awarded the Breakthrough Artist Award by the Music Business Association at Music Biz 2017. Kicking off 2017 Morris took home the Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance for “My Church” at the 59th Grammy Awards, in addition to having the most nominations for a country music artist with four to her credit, including Best New Artist, Best Country Album (“Hero”) and Best Country Song as the songwriter and performer (“My Church”). She received six nominations at the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year, New Female Vocalist of the Year, which she took home the trophy for, Album of the Year (as artist and producer) for “Hero,” and Single Record of the Year (as artist and producer) for “My Church.” Morris was also named Radio Disney’s Best New Country Artist at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards. Morris wrapped 2017 with the conclusion of her first-ever headlining “Hero Tour 2017,” which also included dates in the U.K. Looking ahead at 2018 Maren received her fifth career Grammy nomination for Best Country Solo Performance (“I Could Use a Love Song”) for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. In addition “I Could Use a Love Song” was Morris’ first No. 1 country radio single, as both the performer and songwriter, reaching the top of both Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase Country charts the week of Jan. 15, 2018. Morris’ current single for country radio is the fun fan favorite song “Rich.” Though rooted deeply in country music, Morris has acquired a global, non-genre specific, fan base. It’s that global fan base’s appetite that Morris will satisfy in 2018 by collaborating with electronic house DJ and producer Zedd, along with electronic duo, Grey, for the smash hit, “The Middle,” in addition to joining Niall Horan on the “Flicker World Tour 2018” with dates in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA.
Since launching in late 2014, Grey—the Los Angeles-based production duo composed of brothers Kyle and Michael Trewartha—have quickly taken the music world by storm with their viral hit singles “Starving” and “I Miss You.” Grey stepped into the big leagues with their first original release, “Starving,” a collaboration with Hailee Steinfeld featuring their mentor, Zedd, released July 2016. The breakthrough track marks Grey’s crossover into the mainstream milieu as their first platinum-certified single. A bona fide hit, “Starving” reached No. 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaked at No. 5 on Billboard’s Pop Songs chart, and also went Top 10 in Australia, Canada, and the UK. Online, the track’s video counts over 250 million views on YouTube, with an additional 563 million streams on Spotify. With the success of “Starving” on deck, Grey followed up with “I Miss You,” their first official solo single. Released at the beginning of 2017 via Interscope Records, “I Miss You” delivers an emotionally intense romp through heartbreak and heartache, led by a seductive vocal performance from Southern California trio Bahari. The Top 40 track already claims impressive figures, with more than 30 million streams to date, including over 28 million plays on Spotify alone. Grey is now at the helm of their next artistic evolution with Chameleon, their debut EP released this fall. On Chameleon, a modern, freeform approach to production, no sound is off limits, no genre is taboo. For proof, take a spin through the title track “Chameleon” featuring vocalist Asia Whitacre. Structured atop a moving crescendo, the track dives headfirst into a matrix of filtered guitars and synthed-out bleeps. “Crime” feat. Skott, the first single off Chameleon, was called a “dreamy floor filler with a surprisingly huge drop” by Idolator. Grey go for the jugular on “Wings Clipped,” featuring special guest Avril Lavigne and Anthony Green, lead singer of Circa Survive and Saosin, Continuing their artistic evolution, Grey followed up their debut EP with “Crown,” a collaboration with Camila Cabello featured on the soundtrack to Netflix’s original film “Bright.” The New York Times described the track as “Bollywood-goes- trap mode” while Billboard heralded, “Grey smashed it with Middle Eastern drums and Arabic strumming.” As Grey readies new music in 2018, they reunited with Zedd for his hit single “The Middle,” featuring Grammy Award winning artist, Maren Morris..
Nominations for the “2018 Billboard Music Awards” were announced last month on NBC’s “Today” and on a livestream from Billboard’s New York office. Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran tie for the most nominations this year with 15 each.
“Billboard Music Awards” nominees and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the chart period of April 8, 2017 through March 31, 2018. Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of artists, songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of success in music.
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The “2018 Billboard Music Awards” produced by dick clark productions will air LIVE, first and exclusive, on Blue Ant Entertainment. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan, Mark Bracco, Barry Adelman and Robert Deaton are executive producers.
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