The 2026 BET Awards brought music, comedy and community to the Peacock Theater on Sunday night.
“Culture’s Biggest Night,” as the ceremony bills itself, included performances from a long lineup of talent, including Cardi B, Kehlani and Don Toliver, plus rousing tributes to the late trailblazer D’Angelo and Living Legend Icon Award recipient Lauryn Hill.
Following an electrifying opening performance from T.I., the evening’s host, comedian and internet sensation Druski, descended onto the stage suspended from the ceiling, a nod to his viral “flying pastor” sketch. The 31-year-old comic also celebrated making a little Black history of his own by becoming the youngest performer to ever host the awards.
Family was a major theme of the night, with numerous stars spotlighting their talented progeny, as was the importance of soulful artistry.
“Black creativity is one of the most powerful forces in the world,” said music executive Sylvia Rhone, who was honored with the ceremony’s Ultimate Icon Award. “We make the algorithm. It doesn’t make us.”
Here are five more memorable moments from the night.
Cardi B got “Pretty and Petty”
Not only did Cardi B lead the pack with six total nominations, she took home the award for female hip hop artist and delivered one of the night’s most anticipated performances. Duirng her performance, eagle-eyed viewers would know that last night’s win marked her seventh BET award, since she brought out the other six for a picture-perfect moment during “Pretty and Petty.”
The song, a diss track aimed at fellow rapper BIA, includes the lyric “Do she even got a BET award?” After the show, Cardi B told fans on Instagram Live not to bully the song’s intended target, but said she would still continue to perform it because it’s one of the “hottest songs” from her 2025 album, “Am I the Drama?”
Doechii and SZA represented creative sisterhood
After winning the Her Award for their collaboration, “Girl, Get Up,” Doechii and SZA accepted the award together, oozing mutual love and respect.
“Y’all don’t understand how hard me and SZA worked putting that record together,” Doechii said in her speech. “It was at a time where, girl, I was going through it. But I’m so glad that you pulled through for me, sister.”
“Anything for you, always,” SZA responded.
The two attempted to keep talking as they were played off by a saxophonist, which host Druski had warned about earlier in the evening.
They later came back together onstage as part of the massive Lauryn Hill tribute, singing the Fugees’ “Ready or Not.”
It was a family affair
Apparently unbothered by potential “nepo baby” accusations, stars including Jamie Foxx, T.I. and Lauryn Hill featured their children in their performances (or, in Hill’s case, the tribute performance dedicated to her artistry).
Foxx and his 17 year-old daughter, Anelise, performed the intro to Kehlani’s song “Folded,” with the teen playing some seriously impressive guitar. T.I. performed his hits “Top Back” and “Let ‘Em Know” sitting atop a car, with his son, King, in the driver’s seat.
Three of Hill’s six children — Selah, YG and Zion — sang their mother’s music in a moving tribute, and she shouted out her son John and daughter Sara in a speech.
Artists paid touching tribute to those we’ve lost
“Each year, we are tasked with acknowledging those we lost and how to fill the insurmountable void they’ve left in our lives and in our hearts. I’ve learned that even in grief, it is the indelible legacy they left behind that gets us through the toughest times,” said gospel artist Erica Campbell before launching into a soulful rendition of “I Love The Lord” in honor of the songwriter Richard Smallwood and music executive Clive Davis, whose protégé Whitney Houston popularized the song.
The official In Memoriam was not the only space dedicated to honoring artists who recently passed. A bevy of performers paid homage to beloved R&B icon D’Angelo, including his former band, The Vanguard, plus Ari Lennox, Raye, George Clinton, Durand Bernarr and BJ The Chicago Kid. D’Angelo’s children introduced the medley, which was set against a backdrop of floor to ceiling windows looking out on a starry sky.
Lauryn Hill got her flowers in a big way
By far, the greatest moment of the night was the star-studded tribute of Lauryn Hill’s music career — though it’s debatable whether the 15-minute medley, video tribute, speeches and surprise performances by the artist herself can be called a singular “moment.”
Following an introduction by rap icon Ice Cube and a video contextualizing Hill’s nomination for the inaugural Living Legend Icon Award (as if anyone in the audience doubted her influence), a knockout lineup took the stage. The War and Treaty started with 1993’s “Joyful, Joyful,” before SZA and Doechii took over with “Ready or Not.” Tems and Tierra Whack took on “Fu-Gee-La,” while Nas and Doja Cat sang “If I Ruled the World.” Lizzo and Rapsody led the crowd on “Doo Wop (That Thing),” and Common and Queen Latifah stuck the landing with “Lost Ones.” Solo moments from Selah, YG and Zion to their mother’s tearful pride rounded out the performance.
As if that weren’t enough, Hill surprised the audience by performing two of her own hits, “Ex-Factor” and “Everything Is Everything,” much to the room’s delight (it’s not every day you get the chance to watch Hill do her thing).
“When I made ‘Miseducation,’ I was inspired by you,” she told the crowd in her speech. “I was inspired by the beauty. I was inspired by our potential. I knew it was possible. I dreamed it, I saw it, and I had to manifest it through song.”
View all the winners at bet.com.
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