"2015 Billboard Music Awards" Will Open With The World Premiere Of Taylor Swift's Epic New Music Video "Bad Blood"

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Billboard and dick clark productions announced today that Taylor Swift, a seven-time Grammy winner, will open the "2015 Billboard Music Awards" with the world premiere of the most-highly anticipated new music video for "Bad Blood." The never-before-seen video includes multiple starring roles played by a cast of Golden Globe winners, Emmy winners, Grammy winners, an Oscar nominee, blockbuster movie stars, as well as both new and iconic supermodels and was directed by Joseph Kahn. "Bad Blood" is Taylor's fourth single off her smash hit album, "1989," which has sold in excess of seven million copies worldwide.  Artists scheduled to perform at the "2015 Billboard Music Awards" include Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Hozier, Nick Jonas, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Simple Minds, Van Halen, along with special duet performances by "Empire" recording artists Jussie Smollett and Bryshere "Yazz" Gray with Estelle, Fall Out Boy featuring Wiz Khalifa, Little Big Town & Faith Hill, Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea and Meghan Trainor featuring John Legend. The "2015 Billboard Music Awards" will be hosted by Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen and broadcast LIVE from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 17, on ABC from 8:00 PM-11:00 PM ET.   

Fun artist facts include:

• Taylor Swift's 1989 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with the biggest sales week for an album since 2002 (1.287 million copies). With that, Swift is the only artist in history with three million-selling weeks since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991.

Taylor Swift is the only artist in history to have three albums selling over one million copies in their first week of release (2010's Speak Now, 2012's RED and 2014's 1989), is the all-time leader on RIAA's digital singles chart, the only artist to have two singles hit No. 1 on Billboard's HOT 100 Chart in 2014 AND 1989 was the highest selling album of 2014, to date selling over seven million albums worldwide. Taylor, a seven-time GRAMMY winner, is a singer, songwriter and the youngest winner in history of the music industry's highest honor, the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year and the inaugural recipient of the American Music Awards' Dick Clark Award for Excellence. Taylor has an album on Rolling Stone's prestigious The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time (by women) list, she is Billboard's youngest-ever Woman of the Year and the only artist to have been awarded this honor twice, Time magazine has named her one the of the 100 Most Influential People in the world and one of only eight candidates for their most prestigious honor, 2014 Person of the Year. Taylor has career record sales of over 40 million albums and more than 130 million song downloads worldwide, and has had singles top the pop and country radio charts around the globe. 1989 sold almost 1.3 million copies in the U.S. in its first week making it the highest selling album release since 2002 and the only album to go platinum in 2014, topping Billboard's Top 200 charts and iTunes' sales charts in 97 countries on its release. 1989 has sold seven million copies globally and continues to top Billboard Top 200.  Her new song, "Bad Blood," is the fourth single off her multi-platinum album 1989.

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 March 10, 2014 through March 8, 2015.  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.  

Tickets are now on sale at Ticketmaster.com.   Fans can also choose from multiple VIP premium ticket packages which include limited edition Billboard Music Awards merchandise, an invitation to the official Billboard Music Awards post-party and so much more! VIP premium ticket packages are available at www.cidentertainment.com/events/billboard-music-awards/.  

Fan voting for the 2015 Billboard Chart Achievement Award presented by Samsung will continue through the first hour of the awards show, ending at 9pm ET. To vote for finalists Taylor Swift, Iggy Azalea or Meghan Trainor go to BillboardMusicAwards.com/vote or the @OfficialBBMAs Twitter account. The special editorial award will be given to an innovative artist who has accomplished an outstanding and rare achievement on the Billboard music charts over the past year. 

For additional information on the "2015 Billboard Music Awards" visit us at www.billboardmusicawards.com or the Billboard hub at www.billboard.com/bbma.  The "2015 Billboard Music Awards" is produced by dick clark productions.  Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan, Mark Bracco, Barry Adelman and Robert Deaton are Executive Producers.

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: @OfficialBBMAs 
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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 which is 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.

ABOUT "2015 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS"

The "2015 Billboard Music Awards" are set to return to ABC and will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 17 at 8:00pm ET/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 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 March 10, 2014 through March 8, 2015.  The "2015 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 PEOPLE Magazine Awards." Weekly television programming includes "So You Think You Can Dance" from 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group, and dcp; "World's Funniest Fails" from Jukin Media and dcp; as well as "Boom!" (FOX) from Keshet DCP, the joint venture between Keshet International (KI), the global distribution and production arm of Keshet Media Group, and DC Media, the parent company of 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.  

MEDIA CONTACTS:

2015 Billboard Music Awards
dick clark productions
Liz Morentin, 310-255-4602, [email protected]
Gina Sorial, 310-255-0308, [email protected]

ABC
Nicole Marostica, 818-460-6783, [email protected]  
Bridgette Maney, 212-456-1429, [email protected]

Slate PR
Andy Gelb, 310-461-0111, [email protected]
Rachael Trager, 310-461-0111, [email protected]

d.baron media relations inc. - Latin press
Diana Baron, 310-315-5444, [email protected]

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