{"id":640552,"date":"2026-05-01T10:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/640552\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T10:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:17:15","slug":"kpop-demon-hunters-singers-take-bow-at-billboard-women-in-music-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/640552\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Kpop Demon Hunters’ Singers Take Bow at Billboard Women in Music Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe \u201cGolden\u201d age of women in music was celebrated Wednesday night at the Hollywood Palladium, as Billboard hosted and livestreamed its annual Billboard Women in Music event, with a heavy-hitting list of honorees from multiple genres performing as well as picking up trophies \u2014 including Women of the Year honorees Audrey Nuna, Ejae and Rei Am, of \u201cKpop Demon Hunters<\/a>\u201d fame.<\/p>\n

\n\tElla Langley<\/a>, who seems very much the woman of the moment in popular music generally as well as country music specifically, was on hand to do an acoustic performance of \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d before receiving her hardware from presenter Lainey Wilson. Multi-hyphenate Teyana Taylor<\/a> was saluted by presenter Dionne Warwick as \u201cmy alter ego\u201d and \u201cmy baby\u201d following the Oscar favorite\u2019s acoustic rendering of \u201cBed of Roses.\u201d Previous honoree Brandi Carlile took up presenting duties for Laufey<\/a>, who sang a solo electric-guitar version of \u201cSilver Lining.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tElla Langley performs onstage at the Billboard Women in Music 2026 held at the Hollywood Palladium on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChristopher Polk<\/p>\n

\n\tOther presenter\/honoree hookups and performances included Kehlani singing \u201cFolded\u201d (with her award presented by Ciara), Tate McRae doing \u201cNobody\u2019s Girl\u201d (with Victoria Monet presenting), Zara Larsson bringing down the house with \u201cMidnight Sun\u201d (presented by Tyla) and Mariah the Scientist being joined by duet partner Kali Uchis for \u201cRainy Days\u201d (Coco Jones presented). BINI was one of the few honorees getting an award but not performing (with Cara Delevingne as their presenter), and Canada\u2019s the Beaches stepped up to represent global pop as well (presented by Bella Poarch).<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tZara Larsson accepts the Breakthrough Award at the Billboard Women in Music 2026 held at the Hollywood Palladium on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRich Polk<\/p>\n

\n\tThe individual personalities of the singing voices behind \u201cGolden\u201d were on full display, no doubt to the delight of fans viewing online, as they accepted the night\u2019s climactic award, women of the year. The calmer Ejai spoke first, before Nuna and Ami stepped up with some slightly saltier talk.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs an Asian woman, the lack of representation was obvious to me\u201d while growing up in the U.S., Ejae told the crowd. \u201cI rarely saw other artists who looked like me on western stages,\u201d so she aspired toward \u201cbecoming a K-pop idol. When that didn\u2019t work out, I thought I was done. But when I found songwriting, I realized that music itself never questioned me, because music doesn\u2019t see race or gender. It only asks for the truth. And when I brought my full truth into it \u2014 my voice, my Koreanness, my womanness \u2014everything began to shift. I realized that as a woman, our power has never been in fitting in, but is in our resilience to speak our truth. So I just want to say to every woman who may feel unseen, your voice is something to honor. Your story is not something to dilute. It\u2019s something to amplify. And your identity is not a barrier, it\u2019s your power. Because when we create without apology, take up space and lift each other up, we don\u2019t just make music. We can change what it sounds like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRei Ami got blunt straight away: \u201cBeing a woman in this male-dominated industry is honestly ass. Sometimes we have to work twice as hard with a smile on our faces as the world nitpicks every part of our being. First, we\u2019re too skinny and then we\u2019re too fat. It goes from, \u2018Oh, she\u2019s giving nothing\u2019 to \u2018Why is she being so extra?\u2019 It seems utterly impossible to exist. Oh, and God forbid you\u2019re confident, they\u2019ll crucify you for that. But I think that\u2019s why they\u2019re so obsessed, because, well, there\u2019s nothing more intimidating than a confident woman who knows what she wants. Our ability to persevere and show up is an absolute superpower. So thank you to all the women in this room for using their superpowers to inspire, lead and protect. We are not too much; we are not too loud. We are exactly who the fuck we think we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tAudrey Nuna, Ejae and Rei Ami of HUNTR\/X at the Billboard Women in Music 2026 held at the Hollywood Palladium on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRich Polk<\/p>\n

\n\tNuna threatened to break from her known form. \u201cI\u2019m very emotional tonight,\u201d she began, even though \u201cI\u2019ve been known to be the emotionally constipated one out of this group.\u201d A bit later, during a possibly emotional pause, she vowed, \u201cThey have never seen me cry in real life, so it\u2019s not gonna happen tonight.\u201d \u201cYes it is,\u201d chimed in the other two, daring her.<\/p>\n

\n\tMaintaining dry cheeks, she said, \u201cFrom when I first started releasing music back in 2019 to this moment now, I really never identified with the boxes that Korean American women were expected to fit into. And quite frankly, I didn\u2019t even know how to even begin to try to fit into those boxes. I mean, I\u2019m literally wearing shoes that are boxing gloves right now.\u201d The livestream had a longshot to make sure home viewers could verify this.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo to receive this honor and represent a song in a film that affirms this notion that the world needs women to show up as their fullest, most whole selves, their weirdest selves, their smelliest selves, whatever it is, it\u2019s rewarding beyond words. I think we all grow up being fed ideas of what our role is supposed to be as a woman in this world. And something that navigating this industry in particular has shown me firsthand is that women are natural-born leaders \u2014 and they\u2019re the best at it. Sorry, I\u2019m just gonna say it. And when women genuinely support one another from the heart deep in their core \u2014 you know, I was fan grilling over Ella Langley earlier, because that shit was amazing! \u2014 it is one of the most transformative, effective and boundary-breaking forces in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs eloquent as the prepared speeches of the \u201cKpop\u201d singers and other honorees often were, not everyone came so well-armed. Said Langley when she came to the podium, \u201cI really tried to write a speech for a long time, and I procrastinated until right now. So me winging it in front of people is much better than me reading in front of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLangley and Lainey are competitors at the upcoming ACM Awards, but the latter showing up for the former was a strong indication they don\u2019t see one another as rivals. \u201cI met Ella at Tim Roof in Nashville years ago, and she had this fire about her that I could not help but notice,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cShe\u2019s the kind of chick that don\u2019t just walk into a room, she kicks the door in. And she comes from the kind of place where you learn early how to work hard, tell the truth, and stay who you are in the stories that you were born to tell. \u2026 What makes me so even more proud is that even with everything that\u2019s going on, Ella is still Ella, she is still hungry, she\u2019s still curious, and still wanting to know more, do more and be more. So. Ella, I love you. I believe in you, and I will always.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLangley mulled over getting the Powerhouse Award. \u201cTo me, powerhouse is strength, resilience. It\u2019s coming back when you don\u2019t necessarily want to but feel like \u2018I\u2019m gonna fight for this. I\u2019m gonna fight for this thing that I love to do and this is something I want to do.\u2019 My whole entire life, there hasn\u2019t been another dream for me. There wasn\u2019t a day that I wanted to be anything else. So, to get this award, I think all those years of kicking down doors\u2026 to me, powerhouse didn\u2019t go away.\u201d And she thanked the audience for letting her go improv in her speech.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTeyana Taylor and Wale performs onstage at the Billboard Women in Music 2026 held at the Hollywood Palladium on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGilbert Flores<\/p>\n

\n\tThere nearly was not a speech from Teyana Taylor, due to a snafu that threatened to hijack the universal good vibes of the evening before it all came together in the end. The singer-actress\u2019 speech did not come up on the Teleprompter, but apparently a request to \u201cad lib\u201d did, leading Taylor to quip, \u201cMy speech is cued. They\u2019re gonna pull up this goddam speech! Y\u2019all know I be having good speeches and shit. I\u2019m not gonna ad lib it.\u201d She then read aloud a cue that said no speech was cued up and to \u201cexit stage right,\u201d which she did.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the climactic appearance by the \u201cDemon Hunters,\u201d though, host Kiki Palmer was told to ad-lib herself \u2014 as she charmingly did \u2014 before it was revealed that Taylor and her presenter, Warwick, would be returning for a do-over. It quickly became apparent, from the eloquence of her remarks, why she did not want to toss them out and just wing it. And she alluded to the earlier difficulty with some good humor, while acknowledging things had gotten tense, as she reappeared in sweats instead of the glam outfit she\u2019d worn earlier.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFirst and foremost, give all glory to God,\u201d Taylor said, \u201cbecause I know without a shadow of a doubt, none of this would be possible without his grace, his timing, his protection over my life. There were so many moments I didn\u2019t really understand \u2014 even like the one now.\u201d She and the audience laughed. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis year marks 20 years in music for me,\u201d she continued \u2014 \u201c20 years of showing up, even when it hurt \u2026 like now.\u201d Another laugh. \u201cTwenty 20 years of growing, evolving, falling, and finding my way back to myself. Twenty years of holding onto a dream, even in the moments it felt like it was slipping through my fingers. And what those 20 years taught me is that purpose doesn\u2019t rush. Purpose waits on you to become who you\u2019re meant to be.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere were times that it honestly felt lonely, times I was misunderstood, overlooked, counted out. But I kept going because I knew who I was, even when the world didn\u2019t quite see me yet. I\u2019ve been blessed to walk in so many gifts \u2014 music, dance, acting, directing \u2014 but at the core it all, music is my first love. It\u2019s where I found my voice. It\u2019s what held me when I didn\u2019t feel held. It\u2019s what carried me through some of the hardest seasons of my life. And as a woman and as women, we are visionaries by nature. We don\u2019t wait for permission. We create possibility. We take what we\u2019ve been through and we turn it into something the world can feel. We turn pain into purpose, silence into sound, dreams into something people can finally see. And that kind of vision, it doesn\u2019t change us, it changes everything around us. So never underestimate a woman with a vision, because by the time you see it, she\u2019s already been building it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTaylor saluted \u201cmy mommy, who is also being honored tonight: You are my backbone, my safe place, my covering. It was so dope watching you curse \u2018em out back there.\u201d That line got the biggest laugh of the night. But getting serious again, Taylor added, \u201cBut I will say I want to thank Billboard for the accountability. I want to thank Billboard for being warm. I want to thank Billboard for coming to the room right away and acknowledging what was done. So I appreciate you, Billboard.\u201d Then, returning to the subject of her mother, she added, \u201cShe taught me how to have grace, y\u2019all.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTeyana Taylor performs onstage at the Billboard Women in Music 2026 held at the Hollywood Palladium on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChristopher Polk<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was clearly a big night for Taylor\u2019s parents, who got a huge shout-out from Warwick in her impromptu introduction. \u201cBy the way I just met her mother and father,\u201d said the veteran singer. \u201cThey\u2019re beautiful people. And I do thank you very much for allowing her to become my baby, too.\u201d Warwick said she came \u201cto honor the young lady that has basically become my alter ego. Yes, she is! She\u2019s one that has the wherewithal with which to speak her mind, and to be completely honest about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier, Brandi Carlile went fangirl on Laufey, recalling, \u201cI met Laufey\u2019s voice before I met her, and I swear to you I thought it was somebody well beyond her years. I was sharing like a dressing room wall with her last year at Glastonbury, and I heard this ridiculously angelic and timeless voice cutting through all the backstage noise. That was a lot [of din]. And I absolutely had to find out who that voice belonged to\u2026 When I met her in person, I was totally disarmed, of course, by her raw talent, curiosity and wisdom, and I continue to be blown away with everything that she does.\u201d Listing some of her accolades, Carlile noted that \u201cshe also has two Grammy awards for best traditional pop vocal album \u2014 the most recent one she won from me.\u201d (Laufey\u2019s latest beat out Carlile\u2019s duets album with Elton John for the honor, but no hard feelings.) \u201cIt is a joy to honor a luminous artist who isn\u2019t just making beautiful music. She\u2019s pushing the boundaries of what\u2019s allowed to be commercial and she\u2019s expanding consciousness, which is what all of the truly great, brave artists are called to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tBrandi Carlile speaks onstage at the Billboard Women in Music 2026 held at the Hollywood Palladium on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChristopher Polk<\/p>\n

\n\tLaufey informed Carlile that they had met even pre-Glastonbury. \u201cOf course, she personifies innovation, and I\u2019m so grateful for her kind words,\u201d Laufey said of Carlile. \u201cAlso, I don\u2019t know if you remember me from the time I chased you out of a Oscars party. I ran after you. I remember you were wearing a really chic Valentino outfit and I wanted to compliment you, and I was like, \u2018Oh my God. She doesn\u2019t know who I am.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLike everyone, Carlile does now, but Laufey spoke of far-away roots, in a land that prepared her well for female leadership. \u201cI grew up in the country of Iceland, surrounded by wonderful examples of individual women,\u201d she said. \u201cIn 1980, the country became the first to democratically elect a female president. And we currently have the female prime minister and president.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tLaufey performs on stage at the Billboard Women in Music 2026 held at the Hollywood Palladium on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRich Polk<\/p>\n

\n\tShe continued, \u201cWhen I started making music, I wasn\u2019t sure what direction I wanted to go. I was a girl that loved singing jazz standard songs from the Great American Songbook, playing classical music on cello and trying to figure out pop songs on the piano. I was this weird concoction of so many different things, and I thought to be successful, I needed to focus on just one thing and be perfect. But what I learned and what brought me with the most joy was blending all of these things together and creating art infused with every part of me that became my driving force. It feels funny to accept an award as an innovator because I really do feel like every woman in this industry is an innovator\u2026 This has historically been a business governed by men who profit from the hard work of so many women. So I\u2019m so glad to see that changing. And we\u2019re all here today not because we pushed for change, but because we made room for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Icon Award went to Thal\u00eda, presented by\u00a0Eva Longoria.\u00a0Thal\u00eda filled the room with mariachis as she sang a medley that included \u201cPiel Morena\u201d and \u201cAmor a la Mexicana.\u201d \u201cBeing an icon is not about standing here alone, it\u2019s about opening doors, so others can walk through them,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cIt\u2019s about holding onto your dreams even in uncertainty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sole non-performer to take the stage for an award was ASCAP\u2019s Elizabeth Matthews, being honored as Executive of the Year, after an introduction from Kim Petras.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe entire show can be seen on Billboard\u2019s YouTube channel, below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cGolden\u201d age of women in music was celebrated Wednesday night at the Hollywood Palladium, as Billboard hosted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[239025,49,48,132032,75,2744,52257,341,17534],"class_list":["post-640552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-billboard-women-in-music-awards","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ella-langley","tag-entertainment","tag-kpop-demon-hunters","tag-laufey","tag-music","tag-teyana-taylor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}