Rod Stewart, Ellie Goulding, Jess Glynne, Little Mix, Omi, One Direction, James Bay, The Shires, Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbott, Years & Years, Stereophonics

The BBC today announced Ellie Goulding, Hozier, Jess Glynne, Little Mix, OMI and One Direction are set to perform at the BBC Music Awards 2015, taking place at The Genting Arena, Birmingham on Thursday 10th December. Further acts will be announced over the coming weeks.

BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 Breakfast Shows presenters Nick Grimshaw and Chris Evans joined forces on-air to reveal the first seven artists confirmed to perform at the annual event – a celebration of an amazing year in music with spectacular performances and surprising collaborations from some of the biggest names in the business and hot new talent alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Hosted by Chris Evans and Fearne Cotton, the live event will take place from 4-6pm and will be broadcast the same evening on BBC One, Radio 1, Radio 2 and bbc.co.uk/music. There will also be coverage of the Red Carpet arrivals, back stage gossip and exclusive interviews and sessions.

Chris Evans says: 'They’re back! We had such a blast last year so I can’t wait to get back on stage and relive this amazing musical year of 2015. The BBC Music Awards is the best night of the year and 2015 will be no exception as we celebrate the absolutely brilliant talent out there making the music that inspires us every single day'.

Supported by Birmingham City Council, the BBC Music Awards will feature five awards: British Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year as decided by the BBC Music panel, Song of the Year voted for by members of the public and a special award for a BBC Introducing artist. This year there will be a new award - Live Performance of the Year – which will be given to the band or artist who has delivered THE stand out BBC Music live moment of 2015 also voted by the BBC Music panel.

During the week preceding the Awards, the BBC Music team will be running outreach events across the city, encouraging and inspiring new or aspiring artists in conjunction with local partners and venues. The sessions will focus on sharing expertise and advice about working in the music industry. During the day there will be a series of seminars and workshops looking at issues such as 'How To Make Money In The Music Industry', 'Women in Music' and 'The Art of Song Writing'. Each evening there will be a BBC Introducing Showcase featuring up and coming bands, acts and performers from across the city.

***PLEASE NOTE***
BBC Music have announced that regrettably Mumford and Sons are withdrawing from the BBC Music Awards taking place at the Genting Arena Birmingham on Thursday 10th December.
The band issued the following statement:

'We're very sorry to say that we're not going to make it to the BBC Awards on Thursday. We're out on tour at the moment, and we've realised that we just can't make it work to do two shows in one day.. It seemed like it would be possible a few weeks ago but the reality is we want to make sure those gigs in London are the very best they can be. So sorry to anyone who was looking forward to seeing us on the telly that night. Hope to see you out on the road some time.'