Billboard Music Awards 2016: DNCE, The Go-Go’s, Shawn Mendes Amongst Performers For The Night

Billboard and Dick Clark productions announced today that pop group DNCE, iconic female rock band The Go-Go’s and breakout star Shawn Mendes will perform on the “2016 Billboard Music Awards.” The Go-Go’s performance will celebrate the 35th Anniversary of their smash hit “We Got The Beat” and offer viewers a glimpse of their Farewell Tour, which is set to launch later this year. The “2016 Billboard Music Awards” will broadcast LIVE from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT 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 musical performer P!nk, who will make the world television debut of her new single “Just Like Fire.”

Formed in the summer of 2015, DNCE (Joe Jonas, Jack Lawless, Cole Whittle and JinJoo) first introduced themselves to audiences worldwide with the release of their debut single “Cake By The Ocean,” their breakout smash which has sold 1 million downloads, and has made them one of 2016’s most buzzworthy acts. Also a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the track was included on the group’s 4-track debut EP, SWAAY (Republic Records), which entered the top 10 of the iTunes Pop Chart upon its release in October 2015 and has spent more than four months on the Billboard 200 chart. With its undeniable dance hooks, “Cake By The Ocean” has shown no signs of slowing down. The song currently sits at #2 on Billboard’s Pop Songs radio airplay chart and is top 20 on Spotify’s U.S. Top 50 chart and top 100 on Shazam’s U.S. chart. To date, the song’s worldwide video views are more than 50 million and counting. The track vaulted to #1 on Spotify’s Global Viral and U.S. Viral 50 charts, reached #6 on the iTunes Overall Top Songs chart and currently has a placement in the newest Sprint commercial. In assembling DNCE, Jonas first rounded up some old friends from the road. Born and bred in South Korea, JinJoo met Jonas while playing lead guitar for Jordin Sparks—the opener of the Jonas Brothers’ 2009 world tour. A virtuoso in her own right, she’s toured with everybody from Charli XCX to CeeLo Green. DNCE drummer Jack Lawless, stepped behind the kit for the Jonas Brothers in 2006 and went on to become their full-time drummer. He’s also toured with Night Terrors of 1927 and Soft Swells. Finally, there’s bassist and keyboardist Cole Whittle, who co-founded New York alternative-dance trailblazers Semi Precious Weapons. Whittle and his band then spent two years straight on the road with Lady Gaga, later toured with Kesha, and broke up in late 2014. Next up, DNCE will be the opening act for multi-platinum singer and actress Selena Gomez’ 2016 “Revival Tour” this summer.

The multi-platinum rock group The Go-Go’s will embark on their farewell tour this summer to commemorate a groundbreaking thirty-eight years in the music industry. The tour will feature members Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock and Jane Wiedlin performing their timeless catalog. The legendary rock group made history as the first, and to date only, all-female rock band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to ever top the Billboard 200 albums chart. The Go-Go’s rose to fame during the early 1980s after the release of their debut album, Beauty and the Beat, which was #1 on the Billboard 200 for six consecutive weeks, selling three million copies, and making it one of the most successful debut albums of all time. The set contained the smash singles “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat,” with the latter reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1982, The Go-Go’s were nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best New Artist” and the group also released their sophomore album, Vacation, which was certified Gold in the U.S. and spawned another top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit with the title track. In 2011, the trailblazing band was honored with a Star on the world-famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes has emerged from viral sensation to major best-selling status almost overnight. Soon after artist manager Andrew Gertler discovered and introduced Mendes to now-label Island Records in early 2014, Shawn’s debut single "Life Of The Party" broke records, topping the iTunes Charts and selling 148,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music, due to his legions of fans. The success of the song made Shawn the youngest artist ever to debut in the Billboard Hot 100 chart's top 25 with their first chart entry. In April 2015, Shawn released his debut album Handwritten, which debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and includes “ Stitches” (a No. 1 hit on the Mainstream Top 40 chart and certified 4x platinum), as well as three other certified platinum singles “Life of the Party,” “Something Big” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Mendes was named as one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential Teens of 2014 and 2015, as well as one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2016, and won “Favorite New Artist” at the 2016 People’s Choice Awards. Mendes’ also joined Taylor Swift on her “1989 World Tour,” as well as on his own headlining World Tour including shows at LA’s Greek Theatre & NY’s Radio City Music Hall, as well as his hometown Air Canada Center, all of which sold out in just minutes.