NEW YORK & BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The iHeartRadio Music Awards will honor U2 with its most prestigious award of the evening, the 2016 iHeartRadio Innovator Award. The fan-fueled third annual televised music event will feature the biggest names in entertainment, bringing the music of the iHeartRadio app to life on Sunday, April 3 live on TBS, TNT and truTV at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from the historic, fabulous Forum in Los Angeles and hosted by Jason Derulo. The iHeartRadio Music Awards will broadcast simultaneously on iHeartMedia stations nationwide and across the iHeartRadio digital music platform.
iHeartRadio will honor the iconic group U2 for their undeniable impact on the world of popular culture and will pay tribute to their unparalleled contributions to the music industry and social causes. The group is also nominated in the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards’ Best Tour category. U2 – comprised of band members Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. – is celebrating 40 years together in 2016. During that time, the rock band has won a record-breaking 22 Grammy awards and has become one of the top touring and best-selling bands of all time as a result of their celebrated world tours – including the U2 360°, Vertigo, Zoo TV and Popmart tours – and iconic albums including The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and All That You Can't Leave Behind. U2’s highly-anticipated, technically ambitious Innocence + Experience tour has been traveling the globe in support of their critically acclaimed Grammy-nominated “Songs of Innocence,” which Rolling Stone named the best album of 2014.
U2 is also known for their unmatched commitment to social causes and activism. In addition to being long-time supporters of Greenpeace and Amnesty International, U2 has supported The Angiogenesis Foundation, Chernobyl Children’s Project, Free Burma, Mencap, Music Rising – cofounded by The Edge to help replace musical instruments destroyed during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita – and two organizations cofounded by Bono: ONE – an international advocacy organization fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease in Africa and elsewhere – and (RED), which works with established brands to create (RED) branded products to raise money to eliminate AIDS in Africa. In December 2015, Bono celebrated the 10-year work of ONE and (RED) with a star-studded special World Aids Day benefit concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall that brought together The Edge, Hozier, Jesse J, Miley Cyrus, Stephen Colbert, Sting, Trevor Noah, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton, Bill and Melinda Gates and more. Most recently, U2 returned to Paris three weeks after the deadly November 2015 terrorist attacks for two nights of concerts that honored the strength and resolve of the city.
“U2 is a band of activists, not only in music but in politics, popular culture and human rights,” said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia. "They began as a punk band and that attitude still runs strong throughout their songwriting, albums and live performances. They will never stop testing the limits, and that’s why we are honored to recognize them with this Innovator Award."
“It is extremely rare to have a band that has spent four decades not only changing music, but helping change the world with their tireless dedication to important social causes focusing on AIDS, poverty, cancer, the environment, Hurricane Katrina and much more,” said Tom Poleman, President of National Programming Group for iHeartMedia. “We’re thrilled to be able to honor U2 with the 2016 iHeartRadio Innovator Award.”
For the third straight year, the iHeartRadio Music Awards will celebrate the amazing music that was heard throughout the year across iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on iHeartRadio. The evening will include performances from Justin Bieber, Meghan Trainor, Zayn, Chris Brown, DNCE, Fetty Wap, Demi Lovato and more. The telecast will also feature first-time duets and collaborations, celebrity guest appearances, live award presentations, and exclusive can’t-miss special performances by Pitbull and Maroon 5 that will be simulcast from the Capital One JamFest, which is part of the March Madness Music Festival taking place in Houston, TX. This is the first year for the Turner networks to simulcast the event, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday April 3, the night between the NCAA Final Four National Semifinals and the NCAA National Championship on TBS.
Nominees for the iHeartRadio Music Awards were announced on February 9 and the full list of category finalists can be found here. Fan voting will determine this year’s "Best Fan Army presented by Taco Bell," "Best Lyrics," “Best Collaboration," and the first-ever "Best Cover Song," "Best Song from a Movie," "Most Meme-Able Moment" and "Biggest Triple Threat" awards. Voting began through iHeartMedia’s social media partner Telescope on February 9 and will extend through March 25, with the "Best Fan Army presented by Taco Bell" and “Most Meme-Able Moment” voting continuing through the evening of the awards on April 3. Fans can vote by visiting iheartradio.com/awards.
Proud partners of the iHeartRadio Music Awards telecast live on TBS, TNT and truTV include Capital One®, Taco Bell® and T-Mobile. In addition, Bioré® Skincare is a partner of the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
The awards are produced by iHeartMedia and Den of Thieves. Executive Producers for iHeartMedia are John Sykes, Tom Poleman and Lee Rolontz. Den of Thieves Executive Producers are Evan Prager and Chris Choun with Co-Executive Producers Barb Bialkowski and Baz Halpin.
For breaking news and exclusive iHeartRadio Music Awards content visit iHeartRadio.com/awards or follow the social buzz on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+.
About Turner
TBS, TNT and truTV are part of Turner, a Time Warner company. Turner creates and programs branded news; entertainment; kids and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.
About Den of Thieves
Den of Thieves has emerged as a force for ambitious music driven event shows and uniquely stylized television series. Using their extensive experience working with talent, their credits cover a vast array of formats and include Comedy Central’s Key & Peele Super Bowl Special, ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60th, MTV’s Greatest Party Story Ever, as well as Pitbull's New Year’s Revolution and American Idol on FOX, the CMT Awards, the Peabody Awards, the MTV Movie Awards, the Radio Disney Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards.
About iHeartMedia
With over a quarter of a billion monthly listeners in the U.S. and over 80 million social followers, iHeartMedia has the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America. It serves over 150 markets through 858 owned radio stations, and the company’s radio stations and content can be heard on AM/FM, HD digital radio, satellite radio, on the Internet at iHeartRadio.com and on the company’s radio station websites, on the iHeartRadio mobile app, in enhanced auto dashes, on tablets and smartphones, and on gaming consoles.
iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia’s digital radio platform, is the No. 1 all-in-one digital audio service with over 800 million downloads; it reached its first 20 million registered users faster than any digital service in Internet history and reached 80 million users faster than any other radio or digital music service and even faster than Facebook. The company’s operations include radio broadcasting, online, mobile, digital and social media, live concerts and events, syndication, music research services and independent media representation. iHeartMedia is a division of iHeartMedia, Inc. (OTCBB: IHRT). Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.
