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American Music Awards 2016 Performances, Air Date, Nominees: Everything You Need To Know

By Clare Mulligan
Published on: 00:40 PST, Nov 16, 2016

The 2016 American Music Awards are sure to continue the traditions set by past AMAs, and that means lavish performances, glittery outfits, and plenty of celebrity drama. Past AMAs performances have included stars like Rihanna and One Direction.

This year’s AMAs air date will be this Sunday at 8 p.m. The American Music Awards have historically aired on ABC, and they will continue to do so this year as well.

The 2016 AMAs performance list is as star-studded as it has been in years past. The artists selected usually cover a wide range of music styles, although many of them are well-known outside of their genres and have at least one crossover hit. This year’s American Music Awards follows this pattern with rock legends Green Day, who will be launching a tour in 2017, and Sting, who recently released a new album.

The rest of the American Music Awards 2016 performers this year fall into one of two categories. Most of the announced performers are popstars who will be performing dance anthems. The rest will be performing songs that are on the quieter, more soulful side.

The pop AMAs performers are as follows: Fifth Harmony, who will be performing their recent single “That’s My Girl,” Lady Gaga, who is performing “Million Reasons,” Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj with their hit collaboration “Side to Side,” the Chainsmokers and Halsey with “Closer,” one of the most popular songs in America this year, Maroon 5 and Kendrick Lamar with “Don’t Wanna Know,” and Bruno Mars with “24K Magic.”

The list of performances for the 2016 AMAs doesn’t stop there, though. Also performing will be James Bay, crossover stars Twenty One Pilots with “Heathens,” R&B crooner the Weeknd, and singer-songwriters Niall Horan with “This Town,” Shawn Mendes with “Mercy,” and John Legend with “Love Me Now.”

Some of these artists will be making their AMAs performance debut this Sunday, including James Bay and Twenty One Pilots. Other artists like Fifth Harmony have only performed during the American Music Awards pre-show red carpet before. Some of the biggest names like Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, and Niall Horan have performed at the AMAs at least once before.

While the American Music Awards performances tend to be the focal point of the awards show, the 2016 AMAs nominees list is also pretty spectacular. Some of the tightest races are in the most prestigious categories, like Artist of the Year. This year, the 2016 AMAs nominees were announced by Joe Jonas of DNCE and the Jonas Brothers and Rachel Platten.

The nominees for the main AMAs categories are as follows:

Artist of the Year

  • Justin Bieber
  • Selena Gomez
  • Ariana Grande
  • Rihanna
  • Carrie Underwood

New Artist of the Year

  • Alessia Cara
  • The Chainsmokers
  • DNCE
  • Shawn Mendes
  • ZAYN

Collaboration of the Year

  • The Chainsmokers feat. Daya, “Don’t Let Me Down”
  • Drake feat. Wizkid & Kyla, “One Dance”
  • Fifth Harmony feat. Ty Dolla $ign, “Work from Home”
  • Rihanna feat. Drake, “Work”
  • Meghan Trainor feat. John Legend, “Like I’m Gonna Lose You”

Video of the Year

  • Justin Bieber, “Sorry”
  • Desiigner, “Panda”
  • Rihanna feat. Drake, “Work”

Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist

  • Justin Bieber
  • Drake
  • The Weeknd

Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist

  • Adele
  • Selena Gomez
  • Rihanna

Favorite Pop/Rock Group

  • The Chainsmokers
  • DNCE
  • Twenty One Pilots

Favorite Pop/Rock Album

  • Adele, 25
  • Justin Bieber, Purpose
  • Drake, Views

Favorite Pop/Rock Song

  • Adele, “Hello”
  • Justin Bieber, “Love Yourself”
  • Drake feat. Wizkid & Kyla, “One Dance”

Favorite Country Male Artist

  • Luke Bryan
  • Thomas Rhett
  • Blake Shelton

Favorite Country Female Artist

  • Kelsea Ballerini
  • Cam
  • Carrie Underwood

Favorite Country Duo or Group

  • Zac Brown Band
  • Florida Georgia Line
  • Old Dominion

Favorite Country Album

  • Luke Bryan, Kill The Lights
  • Chris Stapleton, Traveller
  • Carrie Underwood, Storyteller

Favorite Country Song

  • Florida Georgia Line, “H.O.L.Y”
  • Tim McGraw, “Humble And Kind”
  • Thomas Rhett, “Die A Happy Man”

Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist

  • Drake
  • Fetty Wap
  • Future

Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album

  • Drake, Views
  • Drake & Future, What A Time To Be Alive
  • Fetty Wap, Fetty Wap

Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Song

  • Desiigner, “Panda”
  • Drake, “Hotline Bling”
  • Fetty Wap, “679”

Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist

  • Chris Brown
  • Bryson Tiller
  • The Weeknd

Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist

  • Beyonce
  • Janet Jackson
  • Rihanna

Favorite Soul/R&B Album

  • Beyonce, Lemonade
  • Rihanna, Anti
  • Bryson Tiller, T R A P S O U L

Favorite Soul/R&B Song

  • Drake Featuring Wizkid & Kyla, “One Dance”
  • Rihanna Featuring Drake, “Work”
  • Bryson Tiller, “Don’t”

Favorite Alternative Rock Artist

  • Coldplay
  • Twenty One Pilots
  • X Ambassadors

Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist

  • Adele
  • Rachel Platten
  • Meghan Trainor

Favorite Latin Artist

  • J Balvin
  • Enrique Iglesias
  • Nicky Jam

Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist

  • Lauren Daigle
  • Hillsong United
  • Chris Tomlin

Top Soundtrack

  • Purple Rain
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  • Suicide Squad: The Album

Favorite EDM Artist

  • The Chainsmokers
  • Calvin Harris
  • Major Lazer

Which of the American Music Awards 2016 performances are you most excited for, and which nominees do you hope will win?

[Featured Image by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Dick Clark Productions]

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