Mariah Carey, Stray Kids & More to Perform on American Music Awards’ 50th Anniversary Special
UPDATE (Oct. 3): Nelly, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, and Sheila E. have been added to the performance lineup for the American Music Awards’ 50th Anniversary Special. The two-hour special will be broadcast on CBS on Sunday, Oct. 6 concurrently on both coasts from 8-10 p.m. ET/5-7 p.m. PT and will stream on Paramount+.
Three-time AMA winner Nelly will honor hip-hop’s greatest moments on the AMAs with a performance of his greatest hits on which he’ll be joined by Chingy, J-Kwon and members of the St. Lunatics. Nelly had two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Hot in Herre” and “Dilemma” (featuring Kelly Rowland).
Nile Rodgers & CHIC will perform their Hot 100-topping smash “Le Freak,” the top-selling single in the history of Atlantic Records, as well as Rodgers’ collaboration with Daft Punk and Pharrell on “Get Lucky,” which won the Grammy for record of the year in 2014. Rodgers has been inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Two-time AMA nominee Sheila E. will join the previously-announced Chaka Khan in celebrating 50 years of achievements by female artists on the AMAs with a performance of Khan’s 1978 anthem “I’m Every Woman.”
The event will also feature appearances by a Backstreet Boy (AJ McLean) and a member of *NSYNC (Lance Bass), as well as actor and comedian Cedric The Entertainer; Golden Globe winning actress Kate Hudson; 15-time AMA winner Reba McEntire, Oscar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson; and Motown legend Smokey Robinson.
PREVIOUSLY (Sept. 26): Brad Paisley, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Green Day, Jennifer Hudson, Kane Brown, Mariah Carey, RAYE and Stray Kids are set to perform on the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special. The two-hour broadcast airs Sunday, Oct. 6, concurrently on both coasts from 8-10 p.m. ET/5-7 p.m. PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
The special will also feature appearances by 17-time AMA winner Carrie Underwood and past AMA hosts and performers Gloria Estefan and Jennifer Lopez. Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted the AMAs five times between 2003 and 2008, will also make a special appearance. Additional performers and guest appearances will be announced.
The AMAs revealed details about what the performers will be doing on the show:
- 10-time AMA winner Mariah Carey will perform a medley of hits off her multiplatinum 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi. The performance will kick off the album’s 20th anniversary celebration.
- K-pop stars Stray Kids will deliver a special performance honoring the legacy of boy bands at the AMAs.
- EGOT recipient Jennifer Hudson will honor 22-time AMA winner Whitney Houston, one of the top AMA winners of all time, with a performance tribute. Hudson also paid tribute to Houston on the Grammy telecast in 2012 by performing “I Will Always Love You” – just one day after Houston’s shocking death at age 48.
- Two-time AMA winner Brad Paisley will honor the late Charley Pride, who won two awards on the first AMA show in February 1974 – favorite country male artist and favorite country album for A Sunshiny Day With Charley Pride. Paisley will also perform his new single.
- Gladys Knight, a seven-time AMA winner who performed with the Pips on the first show in 1974, will return to the AMAs stage for an encore performance of the group’s landmark 1973 hit “Midnight Train to Georgia.”
- Chaka Khan will celebrate 50 years of achievements by female artists on the AMAs with a performance of her 1978 hit “I’m Every Woman.”
- Singer-songwriter RAYE will perform the 1966 James Brown classic “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” following a retrospective on the American Music Award of Merit, which has been presented to such legends as Brown, Bing Crosby, Billy Joel, Prince and Whitney Houston.
- Three-time AMA winners Green Day will perform their recent hit, “Dilemma,” which is featured on their album Saviors, which in February debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
- Five-time AMA winner Kane Brown will celebrate the legacy of country music at the AMAs with a performance of classic and current hits.
CBS and Dick Clark Productions (DCP) announced on April 26 that the 2024 AMAs would run in the Oct. 6 timeslot. It was to have been the show’s debut on CBS after nearly 50 years on ABC. Instead, the AMAs franchise will debut on CBS with this anniversary special.
The regular, yearly AMAs show has been bumped to May 2025. It will be the first yearly AMAs show since the one that aired on Nov. 20, 2022, with Wayne Brady hosting.
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special will feature new performances, artist interviews, special guests, and never-before-seen footage from DCP’s extensive archives. The program will feature themed highlights from AMAs’ show archives, each culminating with an original performance or artist interview. Segments will look back on the evolution of specific artists and genres at the AMAs, as well as award and performance milestones.
American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Michael Dempsey is executive producer.
ABC aired a 20th anniversary AMAs special in 1993. Kenny Rogers hosted the two-hour program.
The American Music Awards is the world’s largest fan-voted awards show. Nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected on the Billboard charts – including streaming, album sales, song sales and radio airplay.
The AMAs were created by legendary producer Dick Clark in 1973 as a fan-based alternative to the Grammys.
In December 1973, Clark was working on the first AMAs, which would launch on Feb. 19, 1974. The veteran producer knew a little publicity couldn’t hurt, so he found time for an interview with Billboard’s Bob Kirsch that ran on page one of the Dec. 15, 1973, issue under the headline “ABC-TV Slates Favorite Acts’ Awards Feb. 19.”
At the end of the piece, Clark attempted to take the long view of his fledgling show and said “If this is done properly, we may have a show that will last 20 years and will finally get the general public involved in popular music awards.”
Clark underestimated the longevity of his own creation. Next year’s AMAs will be the 51st. (There were two shows in 2003 and none at all in 2023 or 2024.)
That first show in 1974 ran just 90 minutes. It has been allotted three hours for many years, though the length of the 2025 show has not been announced. The show in the first five years had a tight focus on three broad genres – pop/rock, soul/R&B and country. It now recognizes far more genres, including hip-hop, Latin, inspirational, gospel, Afrobeats and K-pop.
But, for the most part, the vision that Clark outlined to Kirsch in 1973 still guides the show.
“This is probably the first time a major effort has been made to sample the U.S. public music taste through popular vote. … To date, we have received extremely favorable response from those in the music industry we have talked to about the show. They seem delighted at the opportunity to be honored by the music-buying public.”
DCP is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a Penske Media Corporation (PMC) subsidiary and joint venture between PMC and Eldrige. PMC is the parent company of Billboard.
Paul Grein
Billboard
