Lauryn Hill Set To Receive The First Living Legend Icon Award At The 2026 BET Awards

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Lauded performer Lauryn Hill will receive the Living Legend Icon Award at this year’s BET Awards, happening on June 29th.

According to a press release distributed on June 4th, Hill will be the first person to receive the Sprite-sponsored inaugural award at the upcoming awards. The award “honors the pioneers who mastered their craft and never let go of the culture. This distinction belongs to the artists and creators whose body of work has remained essential not because the culture held on to them, but because they never stopped holding on to it."

"Ms. Lauryn Hill is the very definition of a living legend," Connie Orlando, the EVP of Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy for BET, said in the release. "Across every era, she has never chased the moment; she has shaped it." She continued, “Her artistry redefined what was possible in our music and gave a generation permission to be fearless, spiritual, and free. Her influence is woven into the fabric of the culture, and it is a profound honor to celebrate her legacy on Culture's Biggest Night.”

Although the Living Legend Icon Award is a new addition to the BET Awards, the show has a history of honoring icons in the Black entertainment community. For example, last year, Snoop Dogg, Jamie Foxx, Mariah Carey and Kirk Franklin were the recipients.

Hill, highly regarded in the entertainment industry, rose to fame as a member of the hip-hop group The Fugees and shone on hits like "Killing Me Softly" and "Ready or Not." In 1998, she released her debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which earned her five awards at the 1999 Grammys.

In 2024, Hill performed at the BET Awards with her son, YG Marley, and was later joined by her Fugees bandmate, Wyclef Jean, for a performance of their 1995 rap track “Fu-Gee-La.”

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