The 2021 Billboard Music Awards are coming up on May 23 at 6 p.m. MT, exclusively on NBC. The awards show includes 51 categories for music from all genres, according to Hollywood.com.
This year, the Weeknd leads as a finalist in 16 categories with the song “Blinding Lights” a finalist in five categories. Dbaby follows as a finalist in 11 categories. For the first time in 10 years, two artists — Pop Smoke and Juice Wrld — are finalists posthumously, with Pop Smoke as a finalist in 10 categories and Juice Wrld in seven categories.
Major awards for Drake and Pink
On Tuesday, Billboard announced Drake as the artist of the decade. The award is based on rankings from the Billboard Hot 100 song chart and the Top 200 albums tally from the 2010s, Billboard says. Previously, Drake has broken chart records with 45 songs hitting the Hot 100 Top 10s. Additionally, Drake holds the record for the most BBMA awards, having received 27 awards including 12 awards in 2019 alone.
In ranked order, the top 10 artists of the 2010s include: Drake, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Post Malone.
Billboard has also announced that Pink will receive the Icon Award this year. The Icon Award is given in special recognition for artists who have impacted music itself and achieved excellence on the Billboard charts, the production company says.
Live performance lineup
On Wednesday, Billboard announced the show’s fourth live performance, by the British group Duran Duran. Other live performances include BTS with its new and second-English single “Butter,” the Weeknd and Pink.
Fan voting now open
The BBMAs include two categories with the winners based on fan votes: top collaboration and top social artist. Voting is open as Billboard announced the full nominee list on Monday.
Vote for your favorites on Twitter or Billboard, see the full voting details for how to tweet your vote.
Nominees for top collaboration include ...
- 24kGoldn featuring iann dior, “Mood.”
- Gabby Barrett featuring Charlie Puth, “I Hope.”
- Chris Brown and Young Thug, “Go Crazy.”
- DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar.”
- Jack Harlow featuring DaBaby, Tory Lanez and Lil Wayne, “Whats Poppin.”
Nominees for top social artist include ...
- Blackpink
- BTS
- Ariana Grande
- SB19
- Seventeen
Voting will remain open until Friday, May 21. The winners will be announced at the Nick Jonas-hosted BBMAs on May 23.