For the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis with Sounds of Blackness and Ann Nesby will bring “Optimistic” to the show remotely, from Prince’s Paisley Park in Minneapolis.
They join a growing list of previously announced performers taking part in this year’s BBMAs.
BTS, DJ Khaled with H.E.R. and Migos, Duran Duran, The Weeknd, Twenty One Pilots, AJR and Glass Animals were already announced as performers. Plus, P!nk is set to perform and receive the Icon Award. Drake will be honored with the Artist of the Decade Award, and Trae Tha Truth will receive the Change Maker Award.
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who are considered architects of the “Minneapolis Sound” alongside Prince, have been partners for more than 40 years and have produced 16 No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 — more than any other production team in history. They recently had a top 10 single as artists themselves, with “He Don’t Know Nothin’ Bout It” with Babyface, on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart.
Sounds of Blackness, whose hit “Optimistic” celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, have had six top 40 charting albums on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart, 10 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, two No. 1s on the Dance Club Songs chart and nine hits on the Adult R&B Airplay chart.
Ann Nesby has also seen success on the Billboard charts, including two No. 1s and 11 hits total on the Adult R&B Airplay chart and five top 10s on the Dance Club Songs chart, one of them being the No. 1 “Lovin’ Is Really My Game.”
The BBMAs celebrate music’s greatest achievements, with finalists determined by performance on the Billboard charts. Finalists and winners are based on key fan interactions with music — album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay and social engagement — tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including MRC Data. This year’s awards are based on the chart period of March 21, 2020, through April 3, 2021.
Fan-voted categories include top social artist and top collaboration. Voting opened on May 10 at 9 a.m. PT and closes on May 21 at 11:59 p.m. PT on Twitter and billboard.com/bbmasvote. For more details, visit billboardmusicawards.com/vote.
Tune in to the Billboard Music Awards on May 23 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC.
The 2021 Billboard Music Awards are produced by dick clark productions, which is owned by MRC; MRC and Penske Media are co-parent companies of Billboard.
