INTERNATIONAL MEGASTAR RIHANNA TO PERFORM ON THE '2016 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS'

Ludacris and 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 international music sensation Rihanna will perform on the "2016 Billboard Music Awards," almost ten years to the day since her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 ("SOS" hit the charts on May 13, 2006, and spent a total of three weeks at No. 1). 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. Rihanna joins previously announced performers Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, DNCE, The Go-Go's, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, P!nk, "Kia's One to Watch" Troye Sivan, Britney Spears, and collaborations with Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign, Nick Jonas with Tove Lo, and Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, and Madonna will honor Prince.

Rihanna has taken the music, entertainment and fashion industry by storm. As an accomplished performer, she has sold 60 million albums and 215 million digital tracks worldwide making her the top-selling digital artist of all time. She's put out 8 albums, achieved 14 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and won 8 Grammy Awards. With over 8.5 billion views and 21 Vevo certified videos she is the most viewed female artist on Vevo/YouTube and is one of the biggest artists on Facebook with over 81 million likes. In addition, she's successfully launched six fragrances, is PUMA's global ambassador for Women's Training and now serves as the creative director of the brand, bringing her styling sensibilities and innovation to PUMA's collections. The first drop of the PUMA creeper collection sold out in just three hours and continues to fly off the shelves with every release. Aside from PUMA, her limited capsule collection with Manolo Blahnik is in stores now. As of July 2015, Rihanna also serves as contributing creative director and punk & poet brand ambassador for Stance.

Rihanna is also a finalist for this year's fan-voted Billboard Chart Achievement Award. Fans can vote for their favorite artist who has accomplished an outstanding and rare achievement on the Billboard music charts over the past year. The finalists are:

· Adele's album 25 scored the largest U.S. sales week ever for an album in Nielsen Music history: 3.38 million sold in its first week.

· Drake scored his landmark 100th Billboard Hot 100 hit, a sum only four acts heave reached.

· Rihanna has now spent 60 total weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her 14 No. 1s, passing the Beatles for the second-most weeks at No. 1 all time.

· Little Big Town's "Girl Crush" set the record for most weeks at No. 1 (13) by a group (of at least three members) on Hot Country Songs.

· The Weeknd is now one of only 12 acts to replace himself at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as "The Hills" succeeded "Can't Feel My Face."

The Billboard Chart Achievement Award is the only fan-voted category at the "2016 Billboard Music Awards." Fans can vote for their favorite finalist in two ways:

(1) Visiting the voting site: http://www.billboardmusicawards.com/vote

(2) Voting on Twitter (by including the following items in a tweet):

o The finalist's name or Twitter handle

o Any form of the word "vote" (e.g., vote, voting, voted, etc.)

o The show's hashtag: #BBMAs

Fans can vote up to 100 times a day, per platform. To view the voting FAQs, please visit http://www.billboardmusicawards.com/voting-faqs/

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.

For the latest Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) news, exclusive content and more, be sure to follow the BBMAs on social and join the conversation by using the official hashtag for the show, #BBMAs. Facebook: FB.com/TheBBMAs Twitter: @BBMAs Instagram: bbmas Tumblr: bbmas.tumblr.com/ Snapchat: thebbmas Vine: vine.co/Billboard.Music.Awards

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.