The third annual iHeartRadio Music Awards will honor U2 with its 2016 Innovator Award. The band comprised of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. is celebrating 40 years together.
Past recipients of iHeartRadio's most prestigious award include Justin Timberlake (2015) and Pharrell Williams (2014). U2 will receive the award for its talent, music, and dedication to social causes. In four decades, the band has released 13 albums, won 22 Grammys and given its supports to worthy causes such as (RED), Greenpeace and Amnesty International.
"U2 is a band of activists, not only in music, but in politics, popular culture and human rights," said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia. "They began as a punk band and that attitude still runs strong throughout their songwriting, albums and live performances. They will never stop testing the limits, and that's why we are honored to recognize them with this Innovator Award."
U2 is also nominated for Best Tour for its iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour 2015. The other nominees include Garth Brooks (The Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood), Luke Bryan (Kick the Dust Up Tour), Foo Fighters (Sonic Highways World Tour) and Taylor Swift (The 1989 World Tour). Click here to see the complete list of nominees.
"It is extremely rare to have a band that has spent four decades not only changing music, but helping change the world with their tireless dedication to important social causes focusing on AIDS, poverty, cancer, the environment, Hurricane Katrina and much more," said Tom Poleman, President of National Programming Group for iHeartMedia. "We're thrilled to be able to honor U2 with the 2016 iHeartRadio Innovator Award."
The iHeartRadio Music Awards will broadcast live from The Forum in Los Angeles on April 3. Jason Derulo will host the awards featuring performances by Justin Bieber, ZAYN, Meghan Trainor, Chris Brown, Iggy Azalea, DNCE, Demi Lovato and Fetty Wap. The telecast will also go live to Pitbull and Maroon 5's performance at the Capitol One JamFest in Houston.
Fans can vote for a handful of the awards being handed out including "Best Fan Army," "Most Meme-Able Moment," "Best Collaboration," "Best Lyrics," "Best Song from a Movie," "Best Cover Song" and "Biggest Triple Threat."
The iHeartRadio Music Awards will air on Sunday, April 3 at 8 p.m. on TNT, TBS and TruTV. It will also simulcast on iHeartRadio radio stations and iHeartRadio digital music platform.
