The 57th Annual Grammy Awards announced the first artists that will be performing live on Feb. 8 at the Staples Center on their official Twitter. The announcement was made early Tuesday after rumors of Madonna making an appearance surfaced late Monday. The artists announced thus far are Madonna, Ariana Grande, AC/DC, Eric Church and Ed Sheeran.
Madonna leaked rumors of a possible Grammy performance when she tweeted a photo of her artwork for the song Rebel Heart meshed with a Grammy Award. The post also included the text “Rebel hearts see you Feb. 8” at the Grammys. Her manager, Guy Oseary, confirmed her performance with Billboard. This will be the 56-year-old pop star’s fifth appearance at the Grammy Awards. Recently, she performed with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on Open Your Heart and Same Love in 2014.
Madonna dropped six new songs on iTunes in December just after several of her in-progress demos were leaked online. She told Billboard that a “few more songs” will drop around the time of the Grammys. She also alluded to the possibility of performing Living for Love, the first song on her album Rebel Heart, at the Grammys. The full album is expected to release in March.
This is not the only information to come out involving Madonna recently. The longtime pop icon has been under major criticism for some of her posts on Instagram. The images included historical and pop-culture figures’–Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Marilyn Monroe–faces wrapped in black cords to mimic her Rebel Hearts artwork. But, she has since apologized for the posts.
Ariana Grande is up for two awards at this year’s Grammys. Her album My Everything is up for best pop vocal album and she is up for best pop duo/group performance with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj for Bang Bang.
AC/DC’s performance at the Grammys will be the first since the rock group released their newest LP Rock or Bust. The group’s appearance should also shed some light on whether the artists are planning to move on with or without their drummer Phil Rudd.
Rudd is facing charges for threatening to kill a man and daughter via phone calls and drug possession charges in New Zealand. He is due to appear in court on Feb. 10, which is two days after the Grammy Awards. Rudd is planning to work with AC/DC again. He told New Zealand One News that he wants his job and his reputation back. “I’m gonna get it back,” Rudd said.
Country artist Eric Church was nominated for four Grammys this year. His most notable nomination is best country album for The Outsiders. He was nominated along with Dierks Bentley, Brandy Clark, Miranda Lambert and Lee Ann Womack.
Ed Sheeran picked up a Grammy nomination for album of the year for his album X. In order to win the Grammy, he will have to beat out Sam Smith, Beyonce, Pharell and Beck. He was also nominated for best pop vocal album, alongside Grande, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Sam Smith.
The Grammys will continue to announce more performances as Feb. 8 approaches. Generally, the show includes performances from more than 20 artists.
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