New York ? Kanye West will receive the Artist Achievement Award at the 2005 Billboard Music Awards, which will be presented Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.

Past recipients of the award, which recognizes both artistic excellence and Billboard chart success, include Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Garth Brooks, Aerosmith, Janet Jackson, Cher and Destiny’s Child.

The awards will air live at 7 p.m. from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Fox, Sunflower Broadband Channel 4.

“Kanye West has not only had a huge impact on R&B/hip-hop, he has transformed modern music as a whole,” Tamara Conniff, co-executive editor of Billboard, said in a statement Thursday.

The Billboard Music Awards recognize the year’s leading artists and songs as determined by performance on Billboard’s weekly charts.