Lauryn Hill has received the inaugural Living Legend Icon Award at the BET Awards, following an all-star tribute to the singer and rapper in Los Angeles.
The annual ceremony celebrates Black achievement across music, film, television and sport.
Hill was presented with the award by Ice Cube after a performance featuring SZA, Doechii, Nas, Doja Cat, Lizzo, Tems, Queen Latifah, Common, Rapsody and others.
The tribute drew on songs from Hill’s solo work and her time with the Fugees, with SZA and Doechii performing Ready Or Not, while Doja Cat joined Nas for If I Ruled The World (Imagine That).
Hill then made an unannounced appearance to perform her 1998 hit Ex-Factor.
Common and Queen Latifah perform onstage at the BET Awards 2026
In her speech, she told the audience: “I do this because I love y’all. I do this because I want you to have everything that I experienced.”
She said music had become a way of sharing the love and support she had received from her parents.
Encouraging young people to value their own talents, she added: “We hold different gifts. Someone else’s gifting might be fashion. Might be hair. Might be consoling someone.
“It might be this microphone. But that gifting is very important because somebody out there needs your gift. So don’t sell your gift short.”
Hill also paid tribute to the artists who had come before her, saying: “Let’s celebrate each other. Let’s honour each other. Let’s respect each other.”
Raye received a standing ovation after performing her song Nightingale Lane
The singer first came to prominence in the mid-1990s as a member of the Fugees alongside Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel.
The group’s 1996 album The Score, which included Killing Me Softly With His Song and Ready Or Not, won the Grammy for Best Rap Album.
Hill’s 1998 solo debut, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, established her as one of the defining artists of her generation.
The album included Doo Wop (That Thing), Ex-Factor, Everything Is Everything and Lost Ones, and remains Hill’s only solo studio album.
At the 1999 Grammy Awards, Hill became the first hip-hop artist to win Album of the Year. She won five awards on the night, becoming the first woman to achieve that total at a single Grammys ceremony.
Jamie Foxx performed with his daughter Anelise
Elsewhere at the BET Awards, Teyana Taylor was among the night’s biggest winners. She received the Icon of the Year and Fashion Vanguard honours, as well as awards for Best Actress and Video Director of the year for her short film Escape Room.
Clipse won Best Group and Album of the Year for Let God Sort Em Out, while their track Chains & Whips, featuring Kendrick Lamar, was named best collaboration.
Kehlani won Best Female R&B/pop Artist and Video of the Year for Folded, while Kendrick Lamar was named Best Male Hip-Hop Artist.
British singer Olivia Dean won Best New Artist, Michael B Jordan was named Best Actor, and Sinners took the award for Best Movie.
Music executive Sylvia Rhone was also recognised with the Ultimate Icon Award.
Source: Press Association