Ms. Lauryn Hill to receive Living Legend Icon Award at the 2026 BET Awards

A new award for a genuine legend

Ms. Lauryn Hill will receive the Living Legend Icon Award at the 2026 BET Awards, a ceremony broadcasting live on Sunday, June 28, at 8 p.m. ET/PT from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The honor is a newly created award, distinct from the Ultimate Icon Award the network introduced back in 2015. According to Billboard, comedian Druski is set to host the show.

BET EVP Connie Orlando put it plainly in a statement: "Ms. Lauryn Hill is the very definition of a living legend. Across every era, she has never chased the moment; she has shaped it." The award, the network says, "honors the pioneers who mastered their craft and never let go of the culture."

Why the recognition holds weight

The case for Hill barely needs making. She first broke through as a member of The Fugees, whose 1996 album The Score topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks. Two years later, her debut solo record, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, matched that feat and produced "Doo Wop (That Thing)," which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Miseducation became the first hip-hop album to win the Grammy for album of the year, and Hill became the first woman to win five Grammys in a single night. The record was later voted into the National Recording Registry in 2014 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2024, which says something about its staying power.

Earlier this year, Hill returned to the Grammy stage for an extended In Memoriam tribute honoring Roberta Flack and D'Angelo, a reminder that she remains a central figure in conversations about what matters in American music.

A note on the award itself

The Living Legend Icon Award is new territory for BET. The older Ultimate Icon Award, which Janet Jackson received first in 2015, saw four recipients last year: Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, and Kirk Franklin. Whether the two awards will coexist or one eventually replaces the other is not yet clear. For now, Hill stands alone as the first person to hold the Living Legend title.