NEWS
MRC Live & Alternative and ABC have announced the first set of performers for the 2021 American Music Awards, airing live on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Olivia Rodrigo will make her AMAs debut performance as the most nominated artist of the night with seven nominations. Bad Bunny, who snagged five nominations, will take the stage for the first time since 2018 for the world premiere performance of the Tainy and Julieta Venegas-assisted single “Lo Siento BB:/.”
Megan Thee Stallion will be teaming up with BTS for the debut live performance of “Butter” in its newer form.
Hosted by Cardi B, the American Music Awards will air live from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater and will arrive on streaming on Nov. 22. Voting for all categories is open now via TikTok and accessible to participants globally by searching for “AMAs” in the app.
American Music Award nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected on the Billboard charts, including streaming, album and song sales, and radio airplay. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partner MRC Data. The nominees reflect the time period of Sept. 25 2020 through Sept. 23, 2021.
The world leader, who has repeatedly faced criticism for featuring songs from artists who do not want their music connected to his political views, shared a viral clip of We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) that focused on the lyric: “Me and my truth we sit in silence.”
The footage shows Trump at a rally while the statement “Men can’t have babies and should never compete in women’s sports” appears on screen.
The Team Trump TikTok account posted the video with the caption: “This shouldn’t be controversial! #trump #arianagrande #maga.”
Ariana responded in a comment that was later removed, saying: “Never use my music again. Also, your truth is false.”
Trump has a well known record of opposing transgender rights, and the US Supreme Court recently ruled that states can prohibit transgender women from taking part in women’s sports. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the justices determined that such laws do not breach Title IX or the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
The decision in June came after several other actions by the Trump administration involving transgender policies. Earlier in May, the Supreme Court also permitted the administration to continue with its “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” order, which would prevent transgender individuals from serving in the US military.
Ariana’s statement arrived soon after Taylor Swift also took steps to stop Trump from using her music on TikTok. Trump had featured a number of her songs in his social media posts, including a video of him and his wife Lady Melania Trump watching fireworks accompanied by August.
The song was later taken off the post and replaced by a notice that read: “This sound isn’t available.”
Trump appeared to deliberately select Taylor’s track, adding the message: “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!”
He also responded to the Team Trump video with: “Mood because it’s August and Donald Trump is your president.”
Other Taylor Swift songs that were removed from Trump’s TikTok content included The Fate of Ophelia and Father Figure.
Trump previously made headlines when he wrote “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on Truth Social after the singer publicly announced that she planned to support Kamala Harris in the previous presidential election.
