Ms. Lauryn Hill will become the first recipient of BET’s Living Legend Icon Award, honoring a body of work that continues to shape generations.
Whoo-hoo! The one and only Ms. Lauryn Hill will receive the Living Legend Icon Award at this year’s 2026 BET Awards.
Sponsored by Sprite, the newly established honor recognizes pioneers whose artistry has remained essential across generations. Lauryn will become its inaugural recipient during what BET proudly calls Culture’s Biggest Night.
Lauryn Hill’s voice, writing and fearless musical vision remain part of the culture’s foundation.
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The honor fits an artist whose influence cannot be contained inside one genre. With The Fugees, Lauryn helped turn The Score into a landmark of hip-hop, soul and reggae fusion. Then came The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, a debut solo album that rewrote the possibilities for personal storytelling in popular music.
Her songs made room for faith, motherhood, heartbreak, self-worth, Black womanhood and hard-earned clarity without separating melody from message. Decades later, that work is still studied, sampled, performed and sung back word for word.
The recognition also arrives after Lauryn’s memorable return to the BET Awards stage in 2024, when she performed alongside her son YG Marley and reunited with Wyclef Jean for a surprise Fugees moment.
Mark your calendars on us. The 2026 BET Awards will broadcast live on Sunday, June 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with Druski serving as host.
Additional honorees, performers, presenters and special guests are expected to be announced as the ceremony approaches.
For now, flowers fully delivered. The title says Living Legend, but Ms. Lauryn Hill’s music has been making that case all along.
Watch Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill perform All That I Can Say.
The archival clip captures Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill sharing the stage for a live performance of All That I Can Say on The Queen Latifah Show—a fitting reminder of Lauryn’s reach as a vocalist, writer and collaborator.
Source: BET announced Ms. Lauryn Hill as the first Living Legend Icon Award recipient.
