ARIANA GRANDE, BLAKE SHELTON AND GWEN STEFANI TO PERFORM ON THE '2016 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS'

Ludacris & Ciara to Host the Award Show Live from T-Mobile Arena on SUNDAY, MAY 22, at 8:00 p.m. EDT / 5:00 p.m. PDT on ABC

Billboard and dick clark productions announced today that Ariana Grande, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani have been added to the star-studded lineup of performers at the "2016 Billboard Music Awards." Grande is set to perform new music, and Shelton and Stefani will take to the stage for the awards show debut of "Go Ahead and Break My Heart," a song they wrote and performed on Shelton's new album, "If I'm Honest." The "2016 Billboard Music Awards" will broadcast LIVE from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on SUNDAY, MAY 22 at 8:00 p.m. EDT / 5:00 p.m. PDT on ABC. For the first time in Billboard Music Awards history, viewers on the West Coast will watch the show live along with fellow fans on the East Coast. This year's show, which will be hosted by hip-hop artist Ludacris and international music sensation Ciara, will showcase big performances, unexpected collaborations and much discussed pop-culture moments. These artists join previously announced performers Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, DNCE, The Go-Go's, Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, P!nk, "Kia's One to Watch" Troye Sivan, Britney Spears, and collaborations with Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign, and Nick Jonas with Tove Lo, and Madonna will pay tribute to Prince.

Within less than a year, Ariana Grande captured No. 1 on the Billboard 200 twice - first with her Republic Records debut, "Yours Truly," and also with its 2014 follow-up, "My Everything." "Yours Truly" yielded the game-changing pop smash "The Way" featuring Mac Miller, which went triple-platinum, landed in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and seized #1 on the iTunes Overall Top Songs chart. Meanwhile, the platinum-selling "My Everything" garnered a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Album" and spawned the six times-platinum hit "Problem." Upon the single's release, Ariana became "the youngest woman to debut with over 400K sold first-week," while the song ranked as the 5th "highest digital song debut for a female artist" and 9th highest ever. Moreover, it debuted at #1 in 85 countries, topping the iTunes Overall Top Songs and Pop Songs charts for four weeks. During release week, "My Everything" was No. 1 on Spotify as Ariana personally rose to #1 on the Billboard's Artists 100 chart. She also became the first woman in history and the first artist since Michael Jackson to simultaneously have three songs - "Problem," "Break Free" featuring Zedd, and "Bang Bang" with Nicki Minaj and Jessie J - in the Top 6 of the Digital Songs Chart. "Bang Bang" went platinum and was Grammy-nominated for "Best Pop Duo/Group Performance." By the end of the year, she landed four songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the most of any artist in 2014. In total, Ariana has enjoyed seven top 10 smashes on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2013, she was named "Best New Artist" at the American Music Awards. Other accolades followed with Ariana winning "Favorite Breakout Artist" at the People's Choice Awards 2014, the "Young Influencer Award" at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, the "Radio Disney Chart Topper Award," "Choice Female Artist" and "Choice Single" "Problem" at the 2014 Teen Choice Awards, and more. At the 2014 MTV VMAS, "Problem" was named "Best Pop Video" as well. In November, Ariana took home the award for "Favorite Female Artist - Pop/Rock" at the 2015 American Music Awards. 2016 sees her release her mega-anticipated third full-length album, "Dangerous Woman," driven by the title track which captured No. 1 on both iTunes Overall Top Songs Chart and Top Pop Songs Chart minutes after release. "Dangerous Woman" also debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 earning her the distinction of becoming the first artist to debut in the top 10 with the lead single from each of her first three albums.

Country Music Association's 2012 "Entertainer of the Year," Grammy Award nominee and five-time CMA Awards Male Vocalist of the Year, Blake Shelton continues to add to his superstar status. With 16 consecutive No. 1 singles on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, Shelton owns the record of successive No. 1 singles in the modern era, and has a total of 21 No. 1 singles. "Came Here To Forget," is the first single from his forthcoming album, "If I'm Honest," out May 20. The album includes three songs written by Shelton which include the gospel tinged "Savior's Shadow," "Friends," which is also featured in the upcoming "Angry Birds" movie and "Go Ahead and Break My Heart," a song he wrote and performs with Gwen Stefani. Shelton's last three studio albums have all debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, and are among his 13 top 10s on the chart. A member of the Grand Ole Opry, he has earned a host of awards throughout his career, including the recent People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Country Artist. Shelton is celebrating his 10th season on NBC's "The Voice" and recently hosted Nickelodeon's slime-filled Kids' Choice Awards. Shelton will be the subject of a career-spanning exhibition at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. "Blake Shelton: Based on a True Story," which opens May 27, 2016, will explore the life and work of one of country music's most popular and multi-dimensional artists. He will hit the road in September for his Blake Shelton presented by Gildan tour, which kicks off with a two-night stand in Oklahoma City.

Three-time Grammy Award winner Gwen Stefani has achieved worldwide success as a performer, songwriter, and recording artist who has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide with No Doubt and as a multi-platinum solo artist. Stefani released two solo albums - "Love.Angel.Music.Baby" and "The Sweet Escape" - featuring the hit singles "Rich Girl," "Sweet Escape," "What Are You Waiting For?" and the Pharrell Williams-produced Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "Hollaback Girl," which became the first digital download to sell more than one million copies in the United States. In the fall of 2015, Stefani returned as a coach for the ninth season of "The Voice" and released the synth-pop ballad "Used To Love You," a song that has since been certified gold. Stefani kicked off 2016 with the release of her second single "Make Me Like You" and a music video that was created on live television. Both "Used to Love You" and "Make Me Like You" are featured on Stefani's third studio album, "This Is What The Truth Feels Like," which was released March 18th on Interscope Records and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital songs sales, radio airplay, streaming, touring and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. 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 tracking dates March 23, 2015 through March 17, 2016 and Billboard chart dates April 11, 2015 through April 2, 2016. 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 a musician's success.

The "2016 Billboard Music Awards" sponsors and partners include Comcast, Kia Motors, Las Vegas, Music Choice, T-Mobile and WestwoodOne.

Tickets are now on sale for the "2016 Billboard Music Awards." To purchase tickets online, fans should go to www.axs.com or www.t-mobilearena.com.

For additional information on the "2016 Billboard Music Awards" visit us at www.billboardmusicawards.com or the Billboard hub at www.billboard.com/bbma.

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The "2016 Billboard Music Awards" will live stream in the WATCH ABC app for verified viewers in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Fresno, Raleigh-Durham and Philadelphia. Once aired, the full show will be available on demand via WATCH ABC.

About "2016 Billboard Music Awards"

The "2016 Billboard Music Awards" are set to return to ABC and will be broadcast live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 22 at 8:00pm ET / 5:00pm PT. The show will showcase this year's hottest and biggest music stars. Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital songs sales, radio airplay, streaming, 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 23, 2015 through March 17, 2016. The "2016 Billboard Music Awards" is produced by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan, Mark Bracco, Barry Adelman and Robert Deaton are Executive Producers.

About dick clark productions

dick clark productions (dcp) is the world's largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming, with the "Academy of Country Music Awards," "American Country Countdown Awards," "American Music Awards," "Billboard Music Awards," "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," "Golden Globe Awards," "Hollywood Film Awards" and the "Streamy Awards." Weekly television programming includes "So You Think You Can Dance," from 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group and dcp. dcp also owns one of the world's most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries, with more than 55 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

About Billboard

Billboard is the world's most influential music brand, built on the most complete and well- respected database of charts across all music genres. The Billboard charts define success in music. From the iconic Billboard magazine to Billboard.com, the ultimate consumer-facing destination for millions of passionate music fans, to the industry's most elite conference series and influencer events including the Power 100 and Women in Music - the Billboard brand has unmatched authority among fans, artists and the industry alike. Billboard was named the leading U.S. brand on Twitter, surpassing the NFL, ESPN, BuzzFeed and MTV, with 7.5 million engaged actions in Q4 2015, and named an overall Top 10 U.S. Media Publisher in December 2015 with 11.8 million social actions. Billboard topped Shareablee's list of U.S. publishers by engagement on Twitter in Q4, ahead of brands including Bleacher Report, BuzzFeed and The New York Times. Billboard magazine has scored major news-generating covers recently including Nicki Minaj, Lana Del Rey, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber.