American Music Awards Celebrates 40 Years (Photos)

As the American Music Awards celebrates its 40th anniversary on Sunday, Dick Clark Productions -- recently purchased by Gugenheim, which also owns The Hollywood Reporter -- has revealed a series of archival photos dating to the 1980s.

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Featured in the gallery below are black-and-white photos of iconic performers Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner and Diana Ross (joined onstage by Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor in 1986) as well as more recent images of Justin Bieber, balancing four trophies, and Taylor Swift, proudly displaying her first piece of AMA hardware in 2008.

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The late Whitney Houston also is pictured, showing off an astounding seven trophies during the 1994 broadcast and singing "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" in a tight, white dress at the 2007 show.

The 2012 AMAs are set for Sunday, Nov. 18 and will broadcast live from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on ABC. On tap to perform at this year's ceremony are Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, No Doubt, Swift, Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Psy and Wonder, who will pay tribute to the late Dick Clark.

Twitter: @THRMusic