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"Neil Diamond will be honoured with the &amp;#039;Icon Award&amp;#039; at this weekend&amp;#039;s Billboard Music Awards 2011.  The legendary singer-songwriter will also perform at the ceremony, scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 22. In a statement, the organisation said that the &amp;#039;Icon Award&amp;#039; honours &amp;quot;the cultural impact of an artist whose extraordinary talent as a creator, writer and entertainer has stood the test of time&amp;quot;. Diamond has sold more than 128 million records across the world and he is the only artist to achieve a Top 20 record every decade since the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart debuted in 1961.  He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March this year. It was previously announced that Beyonc\u00C3\u00A9 will pick up the &amp;#039;Billboard Millennium Award&amp;#039; at the event in recognition of her success as a solo artist and as a member of Destiny&amp;#039;s Child, as well as her influence in the music industry.  Rihanna leads the nominations for the ceremony with recognition in 18 categories. Other nominated stars include Eminem, Lady GaGa and Justin Bieber. The Billboard Music Awards 2011 air on Sunday, May 22 from 8/7c on ABC. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a320152/neil-diamond-for-billboard-icon-honour/>