The first round of voting starts today on , which has helped the British music magazine establish an audience in the US and will cover the event "comprehensively".
The site has 1.8m unique users around the world, and the US is where its audience is growing fastest.
The winners for many categories including best band and best album will be chosen by NME.com's US audience. Other categories including Godlike Genius will be chosen by NME's editorial team.
For support in staging the awards and tour NME owner IPC Media has teamed up with Goldenvoice, part of sports and entertainment group AEG Worldwide.
The awards will take place on April 23 at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, while the tour kicks off in Atlanta on April 15.
The tour finishes in San Francisco on May 13 and includes two Canadian dates in Toronto on April 28 and in Vancouver on May 8.
Steve Sutherland, editorial director of IPC Ignite, said: "The NME Awards have been bringing together some of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll history for over 50 years in the UK. With a special line-up planned for the US as well, the US NME Awards are set to be the alternative rock 'n' roll party of the year."
NME took its Rock'n'Roll Riot tour to the US for the first time last autumn after launching a club night in Los Angeles in 2006.
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