{"id":2016640,"date":"2026-06-29T04:13:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T01:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2016640"},"modified":"2026-06-29T04:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T01:13:29","slug":"kelly-rowland-salutes-sylvia-rhone-with-ultimate-icon-award-at-2026-bet-awards-music-needs-us-to-stand-up-for-it-like-never-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2016640","title":{"rendered":"Kelly Rowland Salutes Sylvia Rhone With Ultimate Icon Award at 2026 BET Awards: \u2018Music Needs Us to Stand Up for It Like Never Before\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2283786020-e1782706216403.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\tTrailblazing record industry executive Sylvia Rhone received the Ultimate Icon Award at the 2026 BET Awards. The special award \u2014 honoring a groundbreaking career that includes her recent six-year tenure as chairman\/CEO of Epic Records \u2014 was presented by Kelly Rowland.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tHere Are the Winners of the 2026 BET Awards: Full\u00a0List\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tLauyrn Hill Receives Living Legend Icon Award After Incredible Tribute at 2026 BET Awards: \u2018I Want People to Know What We Can Do\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tJanet Jackson Presents Teyana Taylor With Icon of the Year Award at 2026 BET Awards: \u2018I Will Wear This Title Loud & Proud\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tRowland recalled first meeting Rhone as one of the six members of Girls Tyme, the precursor to the Grammy-winning group Destiny\u2019s Child. \u201cLet me tell y\u2019all, there we were standing before the same woman that worked with Metallica and signed Erykah Badu and Missy Elliott, just to name a few,\u201d said Rowland. \u201cI was nervous as hell; Sylvia has a particular aura that engulfs any room she walks in. Her vision, her drive and her commitment to create quality artists for the masses to enjoy is something only a true icon can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWalking onstage accompanied by a standing ovation and to the tune of \u201cFree Your Mind,\u201d a hit by En Vogue \u2014 another act she mentored to fame \u2014 Rhone noted that while the award bears her name, \u201cit really belongs to all of us who create culture.\u201d Adding that\u2019s she\u2019s been \u201cfortunate to spend my life around extraordinary artists,\u201d she shouted out a who\u2019s who that included Busta Rhymes, Badu, Gerald Levert and Brandy, as well as Future, Travis Scott and Tyla.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe continued, \u201cWorking at various companies like Atlantic, Elektra, Motown and Epic have been my sword and shield. We\u2019ve seen musical ideas become movements, and what we know is this: Black creativity is one of the most powerful forces in the world. It has shaped culture and continues to show the world new ways to see and feel that creativity. And that deserves our continued protection.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMusic needs us to stand up for it like never before because we are living through a time of massive technological change,\u201d an emotional Rhone further noted. \u201cThe possibilities are super exciting, but we must stay as active on the tech side of music as we are on the soulful side. We make the algorithm. The algorithm doesn\u2019t make us. We must honor the musician. We must compensate the creator. So let us celebrate music as the art form it is, and let us make sure the next generation of artists has the opportunity to create the songs that will change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier during BET Week (June 25), Grammy winner Missy Elliott also hosted \u201cThe Sylvia Rhone Legacy Celebration\u201d presented by Mona Scott-Young\u2019s Monami Entertainment in association with the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC). Among the music stars, executives and creatives packed inside The Sun Rose West Hollywood were Stevie Wonder, Lil Wayne, songwriter-producers Jimmy Jam and Bryan-Michael Cox (the latter of whom doubled as the evening\u2019s DJ) and HYBE America president of music Ethiopia Habtemariam.<\/p>\n

\n\tGrammy- and Emmy Award-winning producer\/multi-instrumentalist Adam Blackstone curated the evening\u2019s musical salute. The performances encompassed the wide scope of Rhone\u2019s career and the diverse array of artists whose careers she helped develop and guide. Among the hosts of artists that rocked the stage were Jozzy, who performed Elliott\u2019s \u201cSock It to Me\u201d and Flo, who sang En Vogue\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Let Go (Love).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/awards\/kelly-rowland-sylvia-rhone-ultimate-icon-2026-bet-awards-1236283223\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2283786020-e1782706216403.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Trailblazing record industry executive Sylvia Rhone received the Ultimate Icon Award at the 2026 BET Awards. The special award \u2014 honoring a groundbreaking career that includes her recent six-year tenure as chairman\/CEO of Epic Records \u2014 was presented by Kelly Rowland. Related Here Are the Winners of the 2026 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2016640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2016640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2016640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2016640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2016640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2016640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2016640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}