Country star Taylor Swift will become the first person to receive the Dick Clark Award for Excellence at the American Music Awards. 24-year-old Swift has certainly been enjoying a great year with her latest album 1989 selling more than a million copies in a week. In recognition of her achieve-ments, Swift will be receiving the new award, reported MTV online. In a statement, released on the AMAs’ website, the organisation revealed Swift had been chosen as the recipient of the award because of her album sales. Swift is one of the first artists to create three albums all of which sold more than a million copies within their first week on the market.
The AMAs producers, in their statement, said the new award is “given to an artist who achieves a groundbreaking feat or creates a landmark work. It is to be bestowed upon someone whose spirit and excellence capture the visionary passion that Dick Clark himself incorporated into everything he did.”
The Dick Clark Award is named after the founder of the AMAs. Clark acted as the host of American Band-stand for thirty years from 1957 and became a hugely influential figure in the music industry.
Clark created the AMAs in 1973. Clark died in 2012 but he is survived by his wife, Kari. Swift will also be performing her new single ‘Blank Space’ at the Awards. Other performers for the ceremony include Sam Smith, One Direction, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Lorde.(PTI)
