STAR STUDDED AWARDS FEATURE MUSICAL ACTS INCLUDING JOHN LEGEND, ROBBIE WILLIAMS, CRAIG DAVID, THE 1975, KAISER CHIEFS AND LUKAS GRAHAM
New York, NY, November 29, 2016 – BBC AMERICA announced today it will air the BBC MUSIC AWARDS on December 14th at 10/9c. The show will tell the story of the past twelve months in music, with headline performances from some of 2016’s best-loved artists and featuring some of the year’s best-selling songs, including:
- John Legend, Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe winning singer-songwriter
- Robbie Williams, multi-award winner and best-selling musical phenomenon, whose 11th studio album recently rose to the top of the UK charts
- Multi-platinum selling artist Craig David, whose new album Following My Intuition reached #1 on the UK’s Official Album Chart this year
- Mercury Prize nominees The 1975, whose critically acclaimed I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It reached Number 1 in the UK and U.S. album charts this year.
- Multi-award winning indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs, who have achieved platinum record sales, Top Ten singles including Number 1 hit Ruby and in 2016 released their sixth studio album Stay Together
- Lukas Graham, whose hit single 7 Years has catapulted the Danish ‘ghetto pop’ band to world-wide fame this year
- Global pop sensation Zara Larsson, who enjoyed worldwide success in 2016 with hit singles Lush Life, Ain’t My Fault, Tinie Tempah duet Girls Like and David Guetta duet This One’s for You – which saw her perform at the UEFA EURO 2016 opening and closing ceremonies
- Multi-platinum award winning singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé, who returned to the charts this year with hit single Hurts from her hotly anticipated second album Long Live The Angels.
BBC AMERICA President Sarah Barnett, commented, “BBCA started 2016 with an Adele concert spectacular and now we play out this year with the BBC Music Awards, where we can come together to celebrate the music we’ve loved.”
Announced last week, the nominees for the BBC Radio 2 Album of the Year, a new award celebrating the best albums of the past twelve months include: Adele – 25, Coldplay – A Head Full of Dreams, Jeff Lynne’s ELO – Alone in the Universe, Michael Kiwanuka – Love & Hate, and Rick Astley – 50.
Also announced are the five shortlisted artists for the inaugural BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Performance of the Year Award, nominees include: Christine and the Queens performing Sorry (Beyoncé cover) on 13 September 2016; Craig David performing Love Yourself (Justin Bieber cover) on 7 January 2016; Emeli Sandé performing Hurts on 16 September 2016; The 1975 Live Lounge Symphony performing What Makes You Beautiful (One Direction cover) on 30 September 2016; Usher performing Climax on 2 September 2016.
Bob Shennan, Director of BBC Radio and Music, says: ‘BBC Music has given viewers some of this year’s most exciting music events, including Glastonbury to Michael Bublé at the BBC, so I’m delighted that BBC America will be broadcasting the BBC Music Awards, giving US based music fans the opportunity to watch our fantastic show.’
Hosted by Fearne Cotton, Claudia Winkleman, and Gemma Cairney, the BBC Music Awards 2016 will feature five awards: BBC Music British Artist of the Year as decided by the BBC Music committee, Song of the Year voted for by members of the public, BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year decided by the BBC Music Introducing panel, BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Performance of the Year voted by the Radio 1 Playlist Committee, and BBC Radio 2 Album of the Year voted for by the Radio 2 Playlist Committee. The BBC Music Awards’ Executive Producer is Anouk Fontaine and the show is commissioned by Jan Young husband, Head of Commissioning, Music Television. The Awards are distributed by BBC Worldwide.
BBC AMERICA’s robust slate of originals continue through the new year with the Doctor Who Christmas Special, and Planet Earth II on January 28th.
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Created in 1998, BBC AMERICA is a hub of innovative, culturally contagious programming like the ground-breaking un-scripted series Top Gear, the top-rated science-fiction phenomenon Doctor Who, and the fan-favorite Orphan Black. The influential network has been the launch pad for talent including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, and Graham Norton — all adopted as American pop culture icons. A joint venture between BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) and AMC Networks, BBCA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including five Emmy® Awards, five Golden Globes® and 12 Peabody Awards. The irrepressible network has garnered one of cable’s most curious, educated and affluent audiences, with many properties boasting super-fan levels of engagement. Available on cable and satellite TV, BBC AMERICA broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, is available On Demand across all major digital platforms and offers full episodes online at bbcamerica.com. Find out more by visiting press.bbcamerica.com or follow us on twitter.com/bbcamerica.