Queen Latifah to Host 52nd American Music Awards 2026 in Las Vegas
The american music awards 2026 will air live on Monday, May 25, 2026, with Queen Latifah hosting from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. CBS and Paramount+ will carry the show in the United States at 8:00 PM ET and 5:00 PM PT, giving the ceremony a broadcast footprint that reaches both network viewers and streaming subscribers.
Queen Latifah returns to the AMAs after serving as co-host in 1995, a long gap that gives the 52nd show a clear legacy angle without changing its live-event logistics. The booking puts a familiar name at the center of a Memorial Day telecast built around music, awards, and a tightly timed coast-to-coast feed.
Las Vegas at MGM Grand Garden Arena
The ceremony will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which is described as the largest venue in the show’s history. That scale matters for the audience in the room as much as the one at home: the AMAs are leaning into a bigger live setting while keeping the same national broadcast slot that has to serve both coasts at once.
Tickets are available on AXS, so the show is already positioned as a live event with a public on-sale path rather than a closed industry taping. For readers planning to attend, the practical takeaway is simple: the venue is set, the date is fixed, and the broadcast time is locked.
Billy Idol and KAROL G
Billy Idol will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and perform, while KAROL G will receive the International Artist Award of Excellence and perform as well. Those honors turn the lineup into more than a performance slate; they give the broadcast two award-centered moments that can be built into the telecast’s pacing and promotional push.
Darius Rucker will receive the Veterans Voice Award Presented by USAA’s Honor Through Action and perform alongside his Hootie & the Blowfish bandmates, adding a separate recognition lane tied to service. The performance list also includes KATSEYE, Keith Urban, Maluma, New Kids on the Block, The Pussycat Dolls + Busta Rhymes, Riley Green, SOMBR, Teddy Swims, Teyana Taylor, and Twenty One Pilots.
Presenters will include Alysa Liu, Anthony Ramos, EJAE, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Hannah Berner, Hilary Duff, Jason Derulo, John Legend, Lisa Rinna, Ludacris, Mariah the Scientist, Matt Rife, Megan Stalter and Paul W. Downs, Melanie Martinez, Nikki Glaser, Paula Abdul, REI AMI and Russell Dickerson. That list signals a broad booking strategy across music, comedy, film, and television, which usually helps a live awards show avoid feeling locked into one audience lane.
USAA, Gold Star families
USAA’s Poppy Wall of Honor will return for its seventh year on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., stretching more than 130 feet and featuring 600,000+ hand-placed poppies. Gold Star families will be in attendance at the AMAs, and U.S. service members and veterans will be seated in USAA’s Military Appreciation Section, tying the broadcast to a separate recognition effort running alongside the show.
USAA’s Honor Through Action initiative is a five-year, $500 million commitment to the military community, which gives the veterans-related award presentation a larger corporate frame than a one-off stage moment. Viewers who want the full telecast can watch live on CBS or Paramount+, and the Memorial Day slot means the AMAs are being staged as a national holiday event rather than a late-night afterthought.
