Taylor Swift will appear in person on the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards program, iHeartMedia and host network Fox announced Wednesday.
Although Swift won’t be performing, having one of the world’s biggest music stars attending the show would be a notable catch for the broadcast, considering she has refrained from making public appearances since promoting her Disney+ special in early December. (She did not attend this year’s Grammy Awards, although there was no official reason for it, but it was because the date of her latest work fell outside the Grammy eligibility period.)
The awards ceremony will be broadcast on FOX from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on March 26th, live from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET, and on tape delay at the same time on the West Coast. It will also be streamed live on iHeartRadio stations and the iHeartRadio app.
At the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Swift is nominated in nine major categories, mostly for her single “The Fate of Ophelia,” but she also won for her streaming special “The Eras Tour | The End of an Era.” These include Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Pop Song of the Year, Favorite TikTok Dance, Best Lyrics, Best Music Video, On-Screen Favorite, and Favorite Tour Style.
Swift’s participation in the awards program falls into the annual “They need her more than she needs him” category. Nevertheless, Swift has a buzz reason to partner with iHeart at this time. That’s with the new release of “Elizabeth Taylor,” the third single from her smash hit album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” The song received radio play earlier this month and debuted on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart this week.
Following the No. 1 successes of “Opalit” and “Ophelia’s Destiny,” the radio release of “Elizabeth Taylor” marks the first time Swift has officially released three singles from an album since she did the same with her 2022 “Midnight” project. “Elizabeth Taylor” peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 the week “Showgirls” was released, based solely on streaming.
As previously announced, Ludacris will host this year’s show and receive the 2026 iHeartRadio Landmark Award. Other special honors included Miley Cyrus receiving the iHeartRadio Innovator Award, Alex Warren receiving the iHeartRadio Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award and John Mellencamp receiving the iHeartRadio Icon Award.
Previously announced performers for the show include Ludacris, Warren, Mellencamp, Laney Wilson, Ray, and the first collaboration between TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, and En Vogue.
Other personalities scheduled to appear on the show include Olympic skater Alisa Liu, Sombre, Nicole Scherzinger of the newly semi-reunion Pussycat Dolls, Ne-Yo, Nikki Glazer and Weezer.
The show’s executive producers are Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeanae Rozen-Cray of Jesse Collins Entertainment, John Sykes, Tom Pohlman and Bert Peters of iHeartMedia, and Fox Entertainment Studios.
