dick clark productions released the nominees for the “2017 Billboard Music Awards,” honoring the year’s most successful artists in 52 categories of music. The “2017 Billboard Music Awards” will broadcast LIVE from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, May 22 at 8:00am (7:00am JKT/BKK) on RTL CBS Entertainment. This year’s award ceremony will showcase big performances, unexpected collaborations and much- discussed pop culture moments.
“2017 Billboard Music Awards” nominations include a cross section of artists with many seeing more nods than ever. Drake and The Chainsmokers lead the pack with 22 nominations each, tying the all-time record for most nominations in a single year. Drake’s nominations include, among others, Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist and Top Billboard 200 Album. The Chainsmokers’ nominations include double nods in six categories: Top Dance/Electronic Album, Top Hot 100 Song, Top Selling Song, Top Radio Song, Top Collaboration and Top Dance/Electronic Song, with single nominations in 10 other categories. Twenty One Pilots received the third most nominations, at 17, including Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, and three nominations in the Top Rock Song category.
Rihanna received the fourth most nominations, 14, including Top Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album and a double nomination for Top R&B Song. Returning winners from 2016, who also received nominations this year, include Adele, Justin Bieber, Luke Bryan, Lauren Daigle, Drake, Kirk Franklin, Enrique Iglesias, Nicky Jam, Wiz Khalifa, Major Lazer, Rihanna, Chris Stapleton, The Weeknd, Twenty One Pilots and more.
2017 TOP NOMINEE CHART FACTS:
- In the past year, the chart-ruling Beyoncé notched her sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with Lemonade and earned eight top 40-charting songs from the set on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lemonade also made the diva the first woman to debut at No. 1 with her first six full-length studio albums. In support of Lemonade, the entertainer mounted the Formation World Tour, which played to more than 2.2 million fans at 49 shows, and earned $256 million according to Billboard Boxscore. Beyoncé is a six-time Billboard Music Award winner, and was also was honored with the Billboard Millennium Award in2011.
- 15-time Billboard Music Award winner Justin Bieber continued an illustrious run of success since releasing his No. 1 Billboard 200 album Purpose, which generated his first three Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles: “What Do You Mean?,” “Sorry” and “Love Yourself.” He added two more top five Hot 100 hits in 2016, as his vocals helped Major Lazer‘s “Cold Water” and DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You” reach Nos. 2 and 4, respectively. The former also crowned Billboard’s Pop Songs and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs charts, all while Purpose continued its domination: it has spent more than 70 weeks on the chart, Bieber’s longest run on the list since his since 2010 LP, My World 2.0.
- EDM DJ duo The Chainsmokers surged to the mainstream with a string of smash singles over the past year. The pair notched their first top five Billboard Hot 100 hit in summer 2016, “Don’t Let Me Down,” featuring rising star Daya. After that, The Chainsmokers followed with their first No. 1, the 12-week leader “Closer,” featuring Halsey. The nostalgic song logged the longest reign atop the Hot 100 of 2016 and went on to historic heights, breaking the mark for the most weeks (27) tallied in the top five for any song in the Hot 100’s 59-year history.
- Breakout rapper Desiigner’s viral hit “Panda” exploded in 2016, on its way to a record- setting 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and 17 weeks atop Hot Rap Songs. It also clocked two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song’s success helped the Brooklyn native earn several year-end honors, including the top new R&B/hip-hop artist of2016.
- Everything Drake touched turned to chart gold in the past year. The artist claimed his first No. 1 as a lead act on the Billboard Hot 100 with “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla; his Views album racked up 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (the longest run atop the list for a man since 1992); and his recent More Life project bowed atop the list in April. The latter set granted Drake his seventh consecutive No. 1 on the list, comprising every one of his full-length albums. Additionally, More Life blasted in atop the chart with a record number of streams for its songs in a single week: 384.8 million in the U.S.
- Since soaring onto Billboard’s country charts in 2012, Florida Georgia Line has continued to conquer with its mix of party anthems and reflective ballads. Dig Your Roots arrived as the duo’s third No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and the set spun off FGL’s fifth No. 1 single on Hot Country Songs, the 18-week leader “H.O.L.Y.” (as well as follow-up hits featuring Tim McGraw and Backstreet Boys). The act boasts two of three longest-reigning No. 1s in the Hot Country Songs chart’s six-decade history: before “H.O.L.Y.,” its debut hit “Cruise” ruled for a record 24weeks.
- 12-time Billboard Music Award winner Rihanna continued a record-setting run with her No. 1 Billboard 200 album Anti. As the set’s “Love on the Brain” reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, she became only the third act in Hot 100 history to earn 30 top 10 hits, following The Beatles (34) and Madonna (38). Another Anti top 10, “Needed Me,” gave the global superstar her longest-charting Hot 100 hit: its 45 weeks surpassed the 41 of “We Found Love,” featuring Calvin Harris in 2011-2012.
- Two-time Billboard Music Award-winners Twenty One Pilots spent the past year solidifying their domination of Billboard’s rock charts, claiming three long-running No. 1s on the Hot Rock Songs chart. The alternative rock duo’s “Stressed Out” ruled for 23 weeks, “Ride” followed with nine weeks on top, and “Heathens” spent a record 30 weeks at No. 1. All three tracks reached the top five on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart — making Twenty One Pilots the first rock act to earn three top five hits in a year since 1988.
- After The Weeknd broke through to the pop mainstream in 2015 with his No. 1 Billboard 200 album Beauty Behind the Madness, the eight-time Billboard Music Award winner returned with another chart-topper, Starboy, in 2016. The set ruled the list for five weeks and spun off a No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 in its title track, featuring Daft Punk. The album saw its second single, “I Feel It Coming,” again featuring Daft Punk, reach the top five in early April. Further, The Weeknd charted all 18 songs from Starboy on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Dec. 17, 2016, making him one of only two artists to have charted that many Hot 100 titles from a single album.
Billboard Music Awards nominees are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital songs sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the reporting period of March 18, 2016 through March 16, 2017. Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of success in music.
For additional information on the “2017 Billboard Music Awards,” visit www.billboardmusicawards.com or check out the Billboard hub at www.billboard.com/bbma.