Ms. Lauryn Hill was not supposed to sing at her own tribute. She did anyway. “I wasn’t even supposed to perform, but I heard somebody wasn’t doing this song,” she said, then launched into “Ex-Factor” with a backing band, as Pitchfork tells it. It was the closing stretch of the 2026 BET Awards on Sunday night (June 28), when she received the network’s inaugural Living Legend Icon Award.
The tribute was an all-star lineup. SZA and Doechii reworked “Ready or Not,” Tierra Whack and Tems traded verses on “Fu-Gee-La,” and Doja Cat sang “Superstar” before joining Nas for “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That).” Lizzo and Rapsody took on “Doo Wop (That Thing),” and Queen Latifah and Common finished the segment with “Lost Ones.” The War and Treaty revisited her Sister Act 2 years, and her children, Selah, YG Marley and Zion Marley, each had a solo moment, per Billboard, which called it the night’s best performance.
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Ice Cube handed Hill the trophy, and she talked at length about why she does this.
I do this because I want y’all to have everything that I experienced,
Ms. Lauryn Hill, accepting the Living Legend Icon Award, Pitchfork
She credited her parents with loving and protecting her, and said that once she realized not everybody got that, sharing it through music felt like her responsibility. It was her second big televised moment of the year, after her Grammys tribute to the late D’Angelo and Roberta Flack, and she has been busy outside awards shows too, as at KidSuper’s People’s Runway in September.
The rest of the night belonged to a stacked bill at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater, hosted by Druski. Cardi B led all nominees with six, per Rolling Stone, and won Best Female Hip Hop Artist after a medley from Am I the Drama?, XXL says. Clipse took Album of the Year for Let God Sort Em Out without being there to accept, XXL reports. T.I. opened the show by emerging from a giant crown for “Top Back” and “Let ’Em Know.” Watch it below.
Janet Jackson presented Icon of the Year to Teyana Taylor, who told the room she was “accepting what I’ve earned with gratitude.” An R&B superteam honored D’Angelo with his band, The Vanguard: Ari Lennox sang “Really Love,” RAYE took “Spanish Joint” in her first BET performance, and George Clinton joined in as Durand Bernarr took over. Kehlani performed “Folded” with a full orchestra, Don Toliver brought “E-85” and “Body,” and Sylvia Rhone was celebrated for her work with artists such as Missy Elliott, Future and Brandy.
Hill, though, owned the finish. According to Billboard, she followed “Ex-Factor” with “Everything Is Everything” to close the show.
- Date
- Sunday, June 28, 2026, Peacock Theater, Los Angeles
- Host
- Druski
- Living Legend Icon Award
- Ms. Lauryn Hill (inaugural)
- Icon of the Year
- Teyana Taylor
- Album of the Year
- Clipse, Let God Sort Em Out
Added to the High Grailed archive on October 12, 2026.
