'Billboard Music Awards:' Red Hot Chili Peppers Will No Longer Perform At The Show Due To A Member Allegedly Contracting COVID

The 2022 Billboard Music Award show is drawing closer and already has an impressive lineup of artists to perform. Some include Travis Scott, Miranda Lambert, Megan Thee Stallion, Morgan Wallen, Elle King, and several others.

The upcoming award show will reportedly be hosted by music producer and record label owner Sean "Diddy" Combs. The artist also doubles as an executive producer for the event. The BBMAs will be held in the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday and streamed live on NBC by 8 p.m. The show can also be streamed on Peacock.

The awards show recently announced Red Hot Chili Peppers' withdrawal from the list of performing artists for an unknown reason. However, the gap was soon filled up with not one but two new performers who were also nominees of the night. Machine Gun Kelly and Dan + Shay were both announced as part of the day's performances.

Red Hot Chili Peppers just pulled out of the list of performers for the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.

The award show announced the news via its Twitter handle on Wednesday and cited "unforeseen circumstances." Turns out the "unforeseen" circumstances are Covid-19 related as one of the members has allegedly contracted the virus.

https://twitter.com/BBMAs/status/1524485044877750275?s=20&t=_uJPA3VFDteOwU7V8lMjCA

The band is still preparing to begin their music tour this summer. They also mentioned Tuesday as the headliners of the upcoming Austin City Limits Festival slated for October.

Red Hot Chili Peppers last performed in the Billboard Music Award in 1999 beside Snoop Dog. The band performed "Scar Tissue," and the rapper performed "Red Hot Mama."

Other acts for the day include Machine Gun Kelly and Dan + Shay. Both were nominated in different categories for the award show and added to the performance lineup after Red Hot Chili's announcement.

Just months after releasing his most recent album, "Mainstream Sellout," Machine Gun Kelly is set to kick off his performance debut on the stage of this year's BBMAs. The awards show announced his booking on social media the same day they announced Red Hot Chili Peppers' exit.

The artist was nominated as one of the top contenders for the top rock artists category. In 2021 the artist went home with the same award and won the top rock album award in 2020 for his album, "Tickets to My Downfall." MGK's "Mainstream Sellout" shot up to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 last month.

The BMMAs also announced Dan + Shay as a performer for the Sunday show. The last time the artist performed on the award stage was in 2019, alongside Tori Kelly. The duo bagged the top country duo award and was again nominated for the same category this year.

The performance lineup for the 2022 BBMAs is certainly star-studded, with acts like Travis Scott, Ed Sheeran, Elle King, Becky G, and Miranda Lambert being announced this week. This is Scott's first televised performance on stage since the artist's Astroworld Festival fiasco left ten dead and thousands injured.

The rest of the performers were announced last month by the award show. They include Morgan Wallen, Maxwell, Florence + the Machine, Silk Sonic, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Rauw Alejandro, Latto, and Mary J. Blige. Blige will reportedly receive the Icon Award this year.

The upcoming BBMAs will reportedly be Wallen's first performance in an award show since the artist received backlash for a leaked video where he used the N-word. The division of MRC, which was in charge of productions in the BBMAs, MRC Live & Alternative, revealed that the decision to add Wallen to the list of performers came after a "thorough review."

In addition to his role as the executive producer of the awards show, Combs will reportedly host the event. The music producer announced in April via his Instagram account, calling himself "the ringmaster."

"BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!" the 52-year-old wrote. He also posted a video of himself revealing his two roles in the awards show. "That means I'm the host with the most, I'm the executive producer that calls all the shots, that means I'm the ringmaster, P.T. Barnum style," he continued.

The rest of the post read, "Ain't no party like a Diddy party. We're gonna come through with one of the most disruptive lineups in music history with one of the most controversial hosts in musical history— Me!"