Auto-Tune pioneer T-Pain will host the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards, it was announced Thursday.
The Grammy-winning rapper will emcee the sixth annual telecast live on Thursday, March 14, at 8 p.m. ET from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Recently, T-Pain released his sixth studio album “1UP” on the same day he was crowned winner of Fox’s hit mystery singing competition “The Masked Singer.” He will leave for a U.S. tour to promote the album on March 16.
“The blessings keep rolling in,” said T-Pain in a statement. “I am grateful and honored to host this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards. The past two weeks have been incredible and the run continues. Thank you to everyone for all of the love and support. A special thanks to the iHeart team and FOX for having me.”
In the seven days leading up to the ceremony, the short-form video app TikTok will present winners for the categories Alternative Rock Album of the Year, Country Album of the Year, Rock Album of the Year, Dance Artist of the Year, Most Thumbed Up Artist of the Year, Dance Album of the Year and Cutest Musician’s Pet. App users will exclusively see the winners receive their awards and give acceptance speeches each day at 8 a.m. ET beginning on March 7. Exclusive red carpet content will also be live-streamed on the app.
Cardi B, Drake, Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, Post Malone, Maroon 5 and Imagine Dragons all received multiple nominations at this year’s award show. The two-hour event will feature performances by Alicia Keys, Grande, Garth Brooks, Halsey, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves and a special appearance by Taylor Swift. Brooks will also receive the inaugural Artist of the Decade Award; Keys the Innovator Award; Halsey the iHeartRadio Fangirls Award; and Taylor Swift the Tour of the Year Award.
Fan voting closes today for Best Fan Army; Best Lyrics; Best Cover Song; Best Music Video; the Social Star Award; Best Solo Breakout; Cutest Musician’s Pet; Favorite Tour Photographer; and the first-ever Song That Left Us Shook awards. Votes are tallied by tweeting with the appropriate category and nominee hashtags or by visiting iHeartRadio.com/awards.