Pop icon Madonna and singer Maluma are scheduled to perform their new song “Medellín” at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards on May 1 in Las Vegas, Billboard announced Friday.
This will be Madonna’s first performance of new music on TV in more than four years. Madonna was last seen at the Billboard Music Awards in 2016, when she paid tribute to Prince.
Prior to the ceremony, MTV will premiere an exclusive showing of the “Medellín” music video. The video will air at 4:00 p.m. EST, during a live televised special. The “Like a Virgin” singer will also join in on the live event from New York, and will spend some time talking about her album with Trevor Nelson and London fans. Maluma will reportedly join the event live from Miami. The 30-minute special will stream from MTV’s Facebook and YouTube accounts, as well as on channels in nearly 180 countries, MTV reported.
“Medellín” precedes Madame X , the singer’s fourteenth album, which is scheduled to be released in June. Madonna’s social media presence has been flooded with posts hinting about the album, her follow-up to 2015’s Rebel Heart .
Madonna, 60, has described Madame X as an “alter ego,” and said in a video shared on Instagram that the identity was a “secret agent traveling around the world changing identities, fighting for freedom and bringing light to dark places.” According to the video, Madame X is many things — including a dancer, a professor, a head of state, a housekeeper, a singer, and a saint.
However, not much is known about the album. In a 2018 interview with Vogue Italia , the superstar hinted that the album would contain influences from Latin cultures. She lived in Lisbon, Portugal, for some time, and said that this experience had influenced her writing.
“I’ve just met lots of really amazing musicians, and I’ve ended up working with a lot of these musicians on my new record, so Lisbon has influenced my music and my work. How could it not? I don’t see how I could have gone through that year without being informed by all this input of culture,” Madonna remarked.
That being said, fans will have to wait in order to see everything that the musical idol has in store for them.
Madonna and Colombian singer Maluma will sing “Medellin” at next month’s Billboard Music Awards. https://t.co/fHYjYHwxJl
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) April 19, 2019
Maluma, 25, has received success in his own right. Last year, he won his first Latin Grammy for “F.A.M.E.”
Billboard reported that other performers set to appear at the awards show include the Jonas Brothers, BTS, Kelly Clarkson, Lauren Daigle, Khalid, and Sam Smith. Mariah Carey will be providing a special performance that evening, as well.
