Calvin Harris fans will be disappointed to learn that the electropop musician won’t be performing at the MTV European Music Awards as originally planned. The 20th EMAs is set to take place today in Glasgow, Scotland. The Scottish musician is up for two awards at this year’s award ceremony: Best UK and Ireland Act and Best Electronic Act.
In a tweet that has since been deleted, Harris reportedly wrote, “No EMAs for me this weekend. Got some heart problems. Heading home to see if it can be fixed.” MTV shared the news last night via the award show’s official Facebook page, writing, “Hey #MTVEMA fans – we have some really sad news. Calvin Harris has taken ill and will not be able to perform at tomorrow’s show. He sends his sincere apologies. Get well soon, Calvin!”
However, MTV also announced yesterday that R’n’B singer and pianist Alicia Keys will perform at the show tonight, presumably in his place. Amongst the other anticipated highlights of the award ceremony is Nicki Minaj, who will be the host for the night. Minaj is also scheduled to put on a performance; one that’s rumored to be “over the top” by MTV EMA executive producer Bruce Gillmer.
In an interview with Billboard, Gillmer revealed a few other artists to look out for, stating, “We just announced this morning one of the biggest bands in history – U2, which is a massive coup and promises to be an incredible performance. We’re going to have amazing tribute to Ozzy Osborne, performances by Charli XCX, Royal Blood, Calvin Harris, Enrique Iglesias, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande. The list just goes on and on.”
He continued, “And we’ve got some really cool collaborations, just incredible stuff that you’ll only see here. I look at the line-up and I’m excited about every single act. I know that’s something that you would expect to hear from me, but in this case it’s absolutely accurate.” While it’s unfortunate that Calvin Harris won’t be able to join these artists for the show tonight, there are other options for fans who wish to get a taste of his music. His latest album, Motion, which debuted on November 4, has its own tour bus making rounds in the East Coast.