MTV today announced that Big Sean featuring A$AP Ferg, H.E.R., Normani and Ozuna have been added to the lineup of performers at the 2019 MTV VMAs, airing live globally from Newark, N.J. on Monday, August 26 at 8:00 p.m.ET/PT.
Hosted by comedian, actor and best-selling author Sebastian Maniscalco, the show will air live from the Prudential Center across MTV’s global footprint in more than 180 countries, reaching more than half a billion households around the world. Music’s biggest stars and fans will celebrate the year’s most iconic videos with electrifying performances, viral moments and a new, first-of-its-kind immersive fan experience.
Since his debut album in 2011, Big Sean, a Grammy nominated, multi-platinum artist, has become one of urban and rhythm radio’s most consistent hitmakers, and one of Def Jam’s biggest core artists. Sean has amassed over six billion global streams throughout his career and an impressive 15 platinum and multi-platinum hit singles. Earlier this year, Sean dropped his new freestyle “Overtime,” and brand new single, “Single Again,” his first major solo single release since 2017’s #1 platinum album “I DECIDED.” All four of his albums, which also include his RIAA platinum debut of “Finally Famous” and “Dark Sky Paradise,” have debuted at #1 on the Rap chart.
Hailing from Harlem, New York, rapper A$AP Ferg has emerged as an artist unafraid to take his craft to thrilling new places. Most recently, Ferg released his latest EP, “Floor Seats,” and announced a headlining North American “YEDI TOUR,” with Murda Beatz and MadeinTYO, which launches November 7 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. “Floor Seats” follows Ferg’s two studio albums, 2013’s “Trap Lord” and 2016’s “Always Strive and Prosper,” and a pair of mixtapes, 2014’s “Ferg Forever” and 2017’s “Still Striving.”
Enigmatic singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist H.E.R. has established herself as one of modern R&B’s most fascinating new talents. With two sold-out headlining tours and over 2 billion streams for her two remarkable EPs – H.E.R. and I Used To Know Her, the 22 year-old won two Grammy Awards this year for Best R&B Album (H.E.R.) and Best R&B Performance (“Best Part” featuring Daniel Caesar). Her latest release, I Used To Know Her, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart, while fan favorites “Focus,” and “Best Part” earned the #1 slot on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs Airplay chart and Urban Adult Contemporary chart, respectively.
Following the success of her two #1 smash hit collaborations “Love Lies” with Khalid and “Dancing With A Stranger” with Sam Smith, Normani released her new single, “Motivation” on Friday. The song’s release came with a stunning visual directed by Dave Meyers that has quickly amassed over 15 million views on YouTube already and was the #1 trending video on YouTube over the weekend. Featured as Pitchfork’s “Best New Track” following release, The FADER declared “Motivation’ is an instantly-loveable bop,” PAPER Magazine proclaimed “Normani proves she’s an absolute triple threat, as if it wasn’t obvious before,” and V Magazine said “Motivation” proves she’s destined for superstardom.”
OZUNA is a multi-platinum Puerto Rican singer/songwriter leading the wave of the new generation of Latin music artists. Among his numerous awards and achievements, in 2019 he broke the record as the biggest winner in a single year in the history of the Billboard Latin Music Awards. Ozuna also won Contemporary Latin Songwriter of the Year at the 2019 BMI Awards. In 2018, he was named YouTube’s most-viewed artist globally and also holds the record as the artist with the most videos with over one billion views, seven in total. His debut studio album “Odisea” became the longest-leading No. 1 album by a male artist on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums charts, with an impressive 46 weeks atop; while his sophomore studio album “Aura” debuted No. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and remained #1 in the Top Latin Albums chart for 17 weeks. He has a wide collection of chart-topping collaborations with the biggest names in Latin Urban music, as well as globally acclaimed megastars such as DJ Snake, Cardi B and Selena Gomez, and most recently with Spanish award-winning artist Rosalía.
As previously announced, Missy Elliott will be honored with the “Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award” and is set to hit the VMAs main stage. Additional performers include Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Jonas Brothers, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Rosalía, Shawn Mendes, and Taylor Swift.
Bruce Gillmer and Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic are Executive Producers for the 2019 “VMAs.” Barb Bialkowski is Co-Executive Producer. Jackie Barba, Joe Buoye and Alicia Portugal serve as Executive in Charge of Production. Amani Duncan is Executive in Charge of Music. Wendy Plaut is Executive in Charge of Celebrity Talent.
Official sponsors of the 2019 “MTV Video Music Awards” include Extra® Refreshers Gum, PEPSI®, Taco Bell®, the 2020 Toyota Corolla and truth®.
Fans can vote for the “Best New Artist” award, presented by Taco Bell®, by visiting vma.mtv.com leading up to the VMA broadcast. Fans on Twitter and Facebook Messenger can also slide into VMAs’ DMs to cast an additional vote for “Video of the Year,” “Song of the Year,” and more. Fans will also be able to ask Alexa to “vote for the VMAs” for “Artist of the Year” within the MTV skill on Alexa-enabled devices.
This year, for the first time ever, MTV is rewarding fans for voting through VMA Power Hour on vma.mtv.com, where their votes are doubled from 1-2pm ET daily. Superfans can come back each day within this voting window beginning tomorrow to show double the love for their favorite artists.
The full list of nominees for the 2019 “VMAs,” is available here.
Additionally, for the first time, fans can vote for their favorites in select categories on MTV Instagram Stories, including “Best Group,” “Best Power Anthems,” and “Song of the Summer,” which is sponsored by Samsung.
Follow @MTV and @VMAs on social to keep up with all-things #VMAs.
About MTV:
MTV is the leading global youth media brand in 180 countries, reaching 450 million households in nearly 30 different languages across every platform. A unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), MTV operations span cable and mobile networks, live events, theatrical films and MTV Studios.
About Prudential Center:
Prudential Center is the world-class sports and entertainment venue located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Opened in October 2007, the state-of-the-art arena is the home of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) three-time Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils, Seton Hall University’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball program, and more than 175 concerts, family shows and special events each year. The arena is also home to the GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center, which opened its doors to the public on October 2017. The 8,200-square-foot experience marks the first GRAMMY Museum outpost on the East Coast, and features a dynamic combination of educational programming and interactive permanent and traveling exhibits, including a spotlight on legendary GRAMMY winners from New Jersey. Ranked in the Top 8 nationally by Pollstar, Billboard and Venues Today, Prudential Center is recognized as one of the premier venues in the United States, and hosts over 2 million guests annually. For more information about Prudential Center, visit PruCenter.com and follow the arena on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @PruCenter. Prudential Center is a Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment property.
