Performers & Presenters for the 2026 American Music Awards: See List

The 52nd American Music Awards, hosted by Queen Latifah, will include performances by a mix of current and heritage artists. The show is set to air live coast-to-coast on Monday (May 25) at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT. It will air on CBS for the second year in a row and stream on Paramount+ in the United States. The show will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Five of the artists set to perform on the show were 2026 Grammy nominees – Karol G (who is set to receive the international artist award of excellence), KATSEYE, sombr, Teddy Swims and Teyana Taylor. (The red-hot Taylor was also a 2026 Oscar nominee.)

Heritage artists performing on the show include Billy Idol, who is set to receive a lifetime achievement award; Hootie & the Blowfish and New Kids on the Block. In addition, The Pussycat Dolls + Busta Rhymes are expected to perform their 2005 hit “Don’t Cha.” And Keith Urban is expected to perform a song from his upcoming album Flow State, which consists of covers of “yacht rock” classics from the 1970s and 1980s.

That mix of old and new has long been an AMAs trademark. In 1995, the last time Latifah hosted the show (in tandem with Tom Jones and country star Lorrie Morgan), the performance lineup included a 10th anniversary salute to “We Are the World,” a 40th anniversary salute to Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” (on which the rock’n’roll legend  was joined by The Go-Go’s), a performance by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin’s 1972 classic “Black Dog” and a hip-hop imbued performance by Latifah of Rodgers & Hart’s 1937 classic “My Funny Valentine.”

The AMAs also announced presenters, including EJAE, who was a 2026 Oscar and Grammy winner for co-writing HUNTR/X’s “Golden”; Paula Abdul, who opened the 1990 AMAs with a performance of “The Way That You Love Me”; Hacks stars Megan Stalter and Paul W. Downs; and Nikki Glaser, who is set to host the Golden Globes in January for the third year in a row.

The show promises a “special appearance” by BTS, which is coming off one of their biggest hits, with “Swim,” which entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1.

In addition to performing on the show, Sombr is one of this year’s leading nominees, with seven nods. Taylor Swift leads the field for the 52nd American Music Awards with eight nods, followed by Morgan Wallen, Olivia Dean and Sabrina Carpenter, who have seven each.

In addition to performing with Hootie & the Blowfish, Darius Rucker will receive the Veterans Voice Award Presented by USAA’s Honor Through Action. The award recognizes artists who use their platforms to make meaningful change in the lives of those who served. Last year’s Veterans Voice Award was presented to Zac Brown.

The American Music Awards is the world’s largest fan-voted award show. Nominees are based on key fan interactions, including streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay and tour grosses. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and Luminate, and cover the data tracking eligibility period of March 21, 2025 through March 26, 2026.

Fan voting has concluded for all awards other than social song of the year and tour of the year, which will remain open through the first 30 minutes of the AMAs broadcast. Fans can vote for these two awards via VoteAMAs.com and the @AMAs Instagram profile.

Here’s a full list of performers and presenters on the 2026 American Music Awards.

The American Music Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.