Roy Wood Jr. Returns as Host of the Billboard Live Music Awards in Beverly Hills

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah correspondent will sit for a live interview to discuss his new Comedy Central pilot ‘Jefferson County: Probation.’

Roy Wood Jr. is making his triumphant return to Beverly Hills where he'll once again host the Billboard Live Music Awards, Nov. 5, at the Montage Hotel.

"In this new era of host-less shows, I’m thankful to Billboard for recognizing that their awards show would not succeed at all without a host. It was a total fluke that both the Emmys and Oscars ran smoothly without a host. The host is the most important thing, more important than the trophies or the stars receiving them, or the carpet they walk down,” Wood jokes. "Also, I will be wearing the same outfit that I wore to the Emmys. I paid a lot for those pants and there are no Getty Images of them.”

The Birmingham, Ala.-born comedian, actor and correspondent on Comedy Central's Emmy and NAACP award-winning The Daily Show with Trevor Noah hosted last year’s Live Music Awards attended by John Mayer, Shawn Mendes and Sebastian Maniscalco, as well as top awards for Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift (who accepted her award via video acceptance speech) and Post Malone.

“We started working on bringing Roy back to host this year’s Live Music Awards immediately after he finished hosting last year’s Live Music Awards,” says Dave Brooks, Billboard’s senior director for touring and live entertainment. “Billboard loves Roy. He has an incredible gift for using satire and humor to help his viewers gain a deeper understanding of complex and sometimes painful issues, like Chicago gun violence, police reform and LGBTQ+ discrimination. And he’s a big music fan. Roy has an opinion of every song, artist and face tattoo on the Hot 100 and he doesn’t hold back, no matter who is in the room.”

This year Wood will be giving out the Legend of Live award to P!nk, who just wrapped up her record breaking Beautiful Trama tour. He’ll also hand out a special touring award to Hootie and the Blowfish and announce the winner of the second annual Chip Hooper Award for young professionals in the music business. He’ll also give out a number of Billboard Boxscore awards including top manager, top arena, top agency and top tour.

Wood will also sit down with Billboard deputy editor and PopShop Podcast co-host Katie Atkinson for a live keynote interview on the first day of the conference to discuss his touring and standup career, as well as his tenure on The Daily Show’s where he has worked to shed a light on serious issues like ICE deportations and PTSD in the black community. 

He’ll also discuss his expanded role on Comedy Central, signing a first-look deal on his comedy pilot Jefferson County: Probation, which is currently wrapping production. Wood also writes and stars in the Comedy Central web series The Night Pigeon, the story of a black superhero with minimal powers fighting the biggest baddest gang in his community, The Gentrifiers. Additionally, Comedy Central is committed to produce and air Roy’s third one-hour stand-up special. His second special, Roy Wood Jr.: No One Loves You premiered as part of Comedy Central’s Stand-Up Month in January and was the network’s highest rated original stand-up premiere since his February 2017 one-hour special Roy Wood Jr.: Father Figure. In 2017, he was also named the new host of Comedy Central’s storytelling series This is Not Happening.

Wood is a graduate of Florida A&M University, earning a degree in broadcast journalism, and since graduating has worked as an outspoken advocate for reshaping the image of Alabama and the American South, penning a New York Times article on the subject in 2018. He is actively working with the Birmingham City Council and the Film Commission to bring more entertainment jobs to Alabama. He has also performed for the troops on numerous USO tours in the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. Prior to The Daily Show, Wood co-starred for three seasons on the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son.

This year’s Billboard Live Music Summit features concert industry luminaries like Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett and Paradigm’s global head of music Marty Diamond at this year’s summit. Set at the Montage in Beverly Hills, the conference features two days of high-level panels, artist interviews and executive Q&As with some of the biggest names in music, comedy and live entertainment. Additional speakers and panelists will be announced in the coming days. Learn more and register here.