Duran Duran To Perform With Blur’s Graham Coxon At 2021 Billboard Music Awards
Duran Duran are set to perform with Blur’s Graham Coxon at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards.
Simon Le Bon and co will be joined by the Britpop legend when they debut a new track from their upcoming album during the awards show on 23 May.
The enduring hitmakers’ set will be filmed in the UK and shown at the ceremony, which takes place at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater.
Duran Duran have also been busy working on their follow-up to their most recent album, 2015’s Paper Gods. They have revealed that it sees them heading in a fresh direction.
Le Bon said last year of the only benefit of not being on the road amid the COVID-19 pandemic: “The only upside of having to have postponed it for a year is that we are likely going to be playing new music.
“And it is very different. We have moved on a lot from the last album. Our producer, Erol Alkan, really pushes you out of your comfort zone as a performer and gets you to try different song formats. It’s not just what you’ve considered to be music, if that makes sense. It is edgy – for Duran Duran it feels very edgy.”
The frontman was speaking after their performance at BST Hyde Park was delayed until 2022.
This year’s Billboard Music Awards will also see performances from Pink, The Weeknd and BTS. Nick Jonas will host this year’s ceremony, while The Weeknd leads the nominations with an impressive 16 nods, followed by DaBaby with 11, Pop Smoke with 10 and Gabby Barrett with nine.
The shortlisted artists and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners over the chart period of March 21, 2020, to 3 April 2021.
The 2021 Billboard Music Awards take place on Sunday, 23 May and the event will be broadcast live on US TV’s NBC network.