BTS and Coldplay
James Marcus Haney, Hae Jae Young, Kim So JungBTS will be working overtime at the American Music Awards on Sunday Nov. 21. They will perform “My Universe” with Coldplay in addition to performing “Butter” with Megan Thee Stallion, as was previously announced. Both songs topped the Billboard Hot 100 this year – “Butter” for 10 weeks and “My Universe” for one.
The pairing is billed as the two groups’ “first live performance together” of “My Universe.” Hosted by Cardi B, the AMAs will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
This will mark BTS’ third performance on AMAs. They sang “DNA” in 2017 and closed last year’s show with a performance from Korea of “Dynamite” and “Life Goes On.” This will be Coldplay’s first AMAs performance since 2015, when they sang “Adventure of a Lifetime.”
BTS is nominated for three awards at Sunday’s show – artist of the year, favorite pop duo or group and favorite pop song. They won favorite pop duo or group the last two years. If they win again this year, they’ll become just the third duo or group to win three years running in this category. The first two were Daryl Hall & John Oates (1983-85) and One Direction (2013-15).
Coldplay and BTS (x 2) join previously announced performers Bad Bunny with Tainy and Julieta Venegas, Olivia Rodrigo, Carrie Underwood with Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, New Edition and New Kids on the Block, Diplo, Måneskin, Mickey Guyton, Tyler, The Creator, Walker Hayes and Zoe Wees.
This year, for the first time, fans could vote for all AMA categories, once per category per day, globally on TikTok by searching for “AMAs” in-app. Voting closed Tuesday (Nov. 16) at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected on the Billboard charts, including streaming, album sales, song sales and radio airplay. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partner MRC Data, and cover the time period Sept. 25, 2020, through Sept. 23, 2021.
MRC Live & Alternative and Jesse Collins Entertainment are producing the 2021 American Music Awards. As the world’s largest fan-voted awards show, the AMAs will air globally across a footprint of linear and digital platforms.
The AMAs will air live on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 8:00 p.m. EST/PST on ABC and will stream the following day on Hulu. Tickets are now on sale at www.axs.com
The American Music Awards are produced by MRC Live & Alternative, which is owned by MRC. MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.
NEWS
Placebo have kicked off their 30th anniversary tour by dusting off some tracks for the first time in over 20 years, and also playing new single ‘Helen Keller’ live for the first time.
The new dates come as the band are celebrating the 30 years since they dropped their 1996 debut album. To mark the occasion, they have announced a huge UK and European arena tour, where they have vowed to predominantly play material from their first album and their sophomore record ‘Without You I’m Nothing’.
At the opening night at Krakatoa in Mérignac, France, Brian Molko and co. delivered a stacked 19-song set, which began with ‘Pure Morning’, and immediately went into the first rendition of ‘Come Home’ in 20 years.
Another rarity came straight after, with the first live performance of ‘You Don’t Care About Us’ since 2001, as well as ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ and ‘Allergic (To Thoughts Of Mother Earth)’ which were played for the first time since 2018 and 2014 respectively.
‘Drowning by Numbers’, ‘Bruise Pristine’ and ‘My Sweet Prince’ were all introduced into the setlist for the first time since 2001, ‘Brick Shithouse’ was aired out for the first time since 2003, ‘Scared Of Girls’ was played for the first time since 2010, and both ‘Lady Of The Flowers’ and ‘36 Degrees’ were broken out for the first time in nine years.
The rest of the set was made up of ‘Teenage Angst’, ‘Bionic’, ‘I Know’ and ‘Every You Every Me’, and the band wrapped up the performance with two covers: Depeche Mode’s ‘I Feel You’, and Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’.
It wasn’t until a later show at the Super Bock Arena in Porto, Portugal, that Placebo broke out their new song ‘Helen Keller’ for the first time – playing it 13 songs into the setlist.
Check out more footage from the tour so far below, as well as the setlist from night one.
‘Pure Morning’
‘Come Home’ (First time since 2006)
‘You Don’t Care About Us'(First Time Since 2001)
‘Teenage Angst’
‘Bionic’
‘Without You I’m Nothing” (First Time Since 2018)
‘Allergic (to Thoughts of Mother Earth)” (First Time Since 2014)
‘Drowning by Numbers” (First Time Since 2001)
’36 Degrees” (Alternate Version – First Time Since 2017)
‘I Know’
‘Brick Shithouse’ (First Time Since 2003)
‘Scared of Girls’ (First Time Since 2010)
‘Bruise Pristine” (First Time Since 2001)
‘My Sweet Prince’ (First Time Since 2001)
‘Lady of the Flowers’ (First time since 2017)
‘Nancy Boy’
‘Every You Every Me’
‘I Feel You’ (Depeche Mode cover, live debut)
‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’ (Kate Bush cover)
Placebo dropped the single ‘Helen Keller’ on September 28, and it sees them reach back to ‘H.K. Farewell’, a hidden instrumental from the era of their self-titled 1996 debut. In the track, they retain the eerie keyboard melody from the original, and push it to new dimensions with a heavier, more anguished feeling.
The title refers to the American author, who was also a disability rights advocate and political activist, who became deafblind as a young child and went on to become an internationally renowned writer and campaigner.
As well as the tour, Placebo also celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut by releasing a reimagined version of the record. For the LP, Molko and Stefan Olsdal returned to the original master tapes and reworked all 10 songs from the 1996 record – describing it as a “director’s cut” that helped them inject the original songs with three decades more experience.
The ongoing tour will reach the UK and Ireland in late November and early December, where they will play Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, London and Cardiff. See all the dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
Dates will head to Latin America in 2027, beginning in São Paulo on February 20 and running through Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia before wrapping up with shows in Guadalajara and Monterrey in March.
Placebo dropped their last album of new material in 2022, with ‘Never Let Me Go’. That record was given a four-star review by NME, which described it as “a renaissance rock record with an experimental edge”, adding that it found Placebo “inspired and ready for a new era”.
