Kelly Clarkson Returning to Host 2020 Billboard Music Awards

The 2020 Billboard Music Awards officially have a host, with Kelly Clarkson scheduled to return to the job she first held in 2018.

“I’m thrilled to be back with my Billboard family,” Clarkson said in a statement, via E! News. “I love being part of an event that celebrates our greatest artists and entertains our fans. This a night of music that you won’t want to miss!”

This year’s Billboard Awards will take place on Wednesday, April 29 at the MGM Grand Gardens Arena in Las Vegas. The ceremony will air on NBC.

Clarkson’s television skills have only increased since her first go around with the Billboard Awards, with her talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, debuting in September 2019. She also served as a coach on The Voice for the fourth time in the fall and is gearing up for another run with Season 18, which premiered on Feb. 24.

Last year, Clarkson hosted the Billboard Awards while dealing with appendicitis, revealing the next day that she had had surgery early in the morning after the show.

“Not gonna lie…. I may or may not have broken down in tears after the show from pain,” she wrote at the time. “BUT thanks 2 all the amazing people @ Cedars-Sinai I flew home directly after the event, nailed the surgery early this morning, & feeling awesome now! Bye bye appendix.”

During both of her years as host, Clarkson has opened the show with a medley of songs from that year’s nominated artists.

“I genuinely love music, and I love artists,” she told PEOPLE last year. “I think a lot of people feel like they maybe have to play a role in that scenario, but I don’t. I am a super big fan of a lot of people.”

She added that her early start on American Idol naturally prepared her for her future hosting duties.

“Because my whole career started on live, national television, I think I have an odd sense of being comfortable in that environment,” Clarkson said. “That probably says something psychologically about me, but I think because of how I came in the industry nothing really throws me, generally. I should really knock on some wood.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Tibrina Hobson