Childish Gambino, Chlöe, Coco Jones, Keke Palmer, Marsha Ambrosius and Summer Walker have been added to the performance line-up for the 2024 BET Awards, which will be held on Sunday (June 30) at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The show will air at 8 p.m. ET/PT, live on the East Coast, taped-delayed on the West Coast, on BET, BET Her, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Nick at Night, Pop and TV Land.
These newly-named performers join a star-studded list of performers including GloRilla, Ice Spice, Latto, Ms. Lauryn Hill & YG Marley, Megan Thee Stallion, Muni Long, Sexyy Red, Shaboozey, Tanner Adell, Tyla, Victoria Monét and Will Smith.
Taraji P. Henson will host the show for the third time. Usher is set to receive the lifetime achievement award. He also has four nominations.
Smith is set to debut a new, original song on the show. This will mark his first solo performance on a major awards show since his behavior at the 2022 Oscars got him barred from Academy events for a 10-year period.
Smith, 55, has a long history with the BET Awards. He and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, hosted the show in 2005. Smith is also a three-time BET winner for best actor – for Ali (2001), Hancock/Seven Pounds (a dual entry in 2009) and King Richard (2022).
Many of this year’s BET performers have had stellar years. Usher headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in February, which set a new ratings record. Smith re-asserted his box-office potency with Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which is the sixth-highest grossing film in the U.S. and Canada so far in 2024.
Ms. Lauryn Hill’s 1998 classic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and also topped Apple Music’s list of the best albums of all time. Hill and Childish Gambino are both Grammy history-makers — in 1999, her Miseducation became the first hip-hop album to win album of the year; in 2019, his “This Is America” became the first hip-hop winner of record and song of the year.
Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hiss” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1, becoming her third No. 1 and her first without a collaborator. The rapper’s third studio album, Megan, is dropping this Friday (June 28). Megan is set to open the show.
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” conquered multiple charts. Billboard’s charts team reported that “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is the first song to be rising in the top 25 simultaneously on the Country Airplay, Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay charts.
Monét won three Grammys in February, including best new artist. Jones won best R&B performance for “ICU.” Tyla was the inaugural winner in the new best African music performance category for “Water,” which was a top 10 hit on the Hot 100. Ice Spice didn’t win a Grammy, but she went into the ceremony with an impressive four nominations.
GloRilla has two songs in the top 10 on this week’s Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart – “Wanna Be,” a collab with Megan Thee Stallion, and her solo smash “Yeah Glo!.” Sexxy Red is also listed in the current top 10 with “Get It Sexxy.”
Henson previously hosted the BET Awards in 2021 and 2022. The Oscar-nominated actress (for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) is one of only two performers to host the show three times (the other being Mo’Nique, who won an Oscar for Precious).
Drake leads the 2024 BET Awards nominations with seven nods, followed by Nicki Minaj with six; J. Cole, Sexyy Red, SZA, Monét and Beyoncé with five each; and 21 Savage, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Tyla and Usher, with four each.
Voting for the 2024 Viewer’s Choice Award began Thursday June 6 and ends June 30 (at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT). Nominees in that category are Doja Cat’s “Agora Hills,” Lil Durk’s “All My Life” (featuring J. Cole), Gunna’s “Fukumean,” Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me,” Long’s “Made for Me,” Monét’s “On My Mama,” Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” (featuring Sexyy Red & SZA), Chris Brown’s “Sensational (featuring Davido & Lojay), Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Tyla’s “Water.”
Connie Orlando, BET’s EVP specials, music programming & music strategy,will oversee and executive produce the annual show. Jamal Noisette, SVP, tentpoles & music community engagement, will co-executive produce for BET. Jesse Collins Entertainment is the production company for the show, with Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon, and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay also serving as executive producers.
BET calls the BET Awards “the ultimate platform to showcase the best, brightest, and most beautiful aspects of the Black experience – honoring the present and future of Black music, creativity, and sportsmanship, by celebrating the culture and being a driving force for social change.”
The 2024 BET Awards will be preceded by a Red Carpet Live Show at 6:00 pm ET/PT hosted by Terrence J, with performances by Too $hort, Lil’ Mo, Blxst & Bino Rideaux, Connie Diiamond, 4batz, Hunxho, Kalan.FrFr, Mariah The Scientist, October London, Remy Ma, Tee Grizzley, 310babii, and DJ Quik. Pretty Vee will serve as a correspondent; Tank will host the Style Stage, and Mouse Jones will host the exclusive BET Awards livestream, while Jae Murphy will serve as the Red Carpet DJ. Matasa Williams is the executive producer of the “Red Carpet Live Show.”
Here’s the updated list of performers and presenters on the 2024 BET Awards.
Performers
Childish Gambino
Chlöe
Coco Jones
GloRilla
Ice Spice
Keke Palmer
Latto
Marsha Ambrosius
Megan Thee Stallion
Muni Long
Ms. Lauryn Hill & YG Marley
Sexyy Red
Shaboozey
Summer Walker
Tanner Adell (BET Amplified stage)
Tyla
Victoria Monét
Will Smith
Presenters (partial list)
Andra Day
Colman Domingo
DC Young Fly
Devale Ellis
Jay Ellis
Jessica Betts
Ms. Pat
Niecy Nash-Betts
Saucy Santana
