First-time nominee The Weeknd will take the stage to perform the hit song “The Hills” on the 2015 American Music Awards. The fan-voted music awards show will take place on November 22, 2015 and will air live on ABC at 8pm ET (tape delayed on the West Coast). Jennifer Lopez has been tapped to host this year’s show which has Taylor Swift sitting at the top of the nominees list with six nominations. The Weeknd and Ed Sheeran each picked up five, followed by Sam Hunt, Nicki Minaj, Sam Smith, Meghan Trainor and WALK THE MOON with three nominations.
The Weeknd joins a list of confirmed performers that includes host Jennifer Lopez, 5 Seconds of Summer, Coldplay, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, One Direction, Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood, WALK THE MOON, Meghan Trainor & Charlie Puth, and Luke Bryan with Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild. Pentatonix and a full symphony orchestra will perform the Star Wars score.
The Weeknd picked up nominations in the 2015 Artist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Favorite Male Artist – Soul/R&B, and Favorite Album – Soul/R&B categories.
Details on The Weeknd, Courtesy of the American Music Awards:
The Weeknd’s path to Beauty Behind The Madness has defied all conventions. He avoided revealing his face until over a year after he released his very first song online. The story itself is now legendary. In 2011, he released an untouchable series of three critically revered free mixtapes — House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence — and the internet exploded with praise and a whole lot of theories about him as he personally remained silent. Soon though, his reach and appeal exponentially expanded. He teamed up with Ariana Grande for the platinum-selling hit “Love Me Harder.” He then had the mainstream completely in his grip with the release of “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” in early 2015. The first release from the chart-dominating, platinum Fifty Shades of Grey Original Motion Picture soundtrack became a triple-platinum smash that enjoyed 27 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100. “Can’t Feel My Face” formally ushered in Beauty Behind The Madness. The song quickly shot to #1 on iTunes worldwide and within weeks, it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Beauty Behind The Madness went gold just two weeks after being released. In addition, “The Hills” has officially been certified 5x platinum as recognized by the RIAA.
The Weeknd has also become a touring force. The 2014 King Of The Fall Tour sold out all dates and since then, The Weeknd’s festival appearances, including Coachella, Lollapalooza and HARD Summer, have drawn massive crowds.
