Taylor Swift will make an in-person appearance on the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards program, iHeartMedia and host network Fox announced Wednesday.
Although she will not be taking part in a performing capacity, any live participation by the world’s biggest music star is a noteworthy catch for the broadcast, given that Swift has been laying low on public appearances since promoting a pair of Disney+ specials in early December. (She didn’t turn up at this year’s Grammys, although she had no official reason to, since her latest work post-dated that show’s eligibility period.)
The awards show will be broadcast on Fox from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood March 26 , airing live 8-10 p.m. ET, and running tape-delayed in the same time slot on the west coast. It’ll also go out live on iHeartRadio stations and on the iHeartRadio app.
At the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Swift has a leading nine nominations, mostly for her “The Fate of Ophelia” single but also her “The Eras Tour | The End of an Era” streaming special. These include artist of the year, song of the year, pop song of the year, favorite TikTok dance, best lyrics, best music video, favorite on screen and favorite tour style.
Any participation by Swift in an awards program falls into the perennial “they need her more than she needs them” category. Nonetheless, Swift does have a topical reason to partner with iHeart at the moment: the fresh release of “Elizabeth Taylor” as the third single from her smash “The Life of a Showgirl” album. The song went out for radio adds earlier this month and made its debut on Billboard’s pop airplay charts this week.
Following the No. 1 success of “Opalite” and “The Fate of Ophelia,” the release of “Elizabeth Taylor” to radio marks the first time Swift has officially released three singles from an album since she did the same with 2022’s “Midnights” project. “Elizabeth Taylor” previously peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 the week “Showgirl” came out, based solely on streaming.
As previously announced, Ludacris will host this year’s show as well as receive the 2026 iHeartRadio Landmark Award. Other special honors include Miley Cyrus getting the iHeartRadio Innovator Award, Alex Warren receiving the iHeartRadio Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award, and John Mellencamp picking up the iHeartRadio Icon Award.
Performers announced thus far for the show are Ludacris, Warren, Mellencamp, Lainey Wilson, Raye and the first-time teaming of TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue.
Other personalities booked to make an appearance on the show include Olympic skater Alysa Liu, Sombr, Nicole Scherzinger of the newly semi-reformed Pussycat Dolls, Ne-Yo, Nikki Glaser and Weezer.
Executive producers for the show are Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannaé Rouzan-Clay for Jesse Collins Entertainment, John Sykes, Tom Poleman and Bart Peters for iHeartMedia, and Fox Entertainment Studios.
