Prince’s Legacy To Be Honored At BET Awards

Prince received a tribute from Madonna and Stevie Wonder last month, but the late singer is getting another honor at the BET Awards, this time with Sheila E., D’Angelo, The Roots, Janelle Monae and Wonder.

The first Prince tribute – held at the Billboard Music Awards and starring Madonna with a side of Wonder – was met with criticism online. Quickly following it, BET tweeted: “Yeah, we saw that. Don’t worry. We Got You.”

BET didn’t offer specific details about Sunday’s performance; there was no word about which Prince songs would be performed or if the musicians would sing together or separately.

Prince-Autopsy-Completed-Late-Singers-Body-To-Be-Released-To-Family
Prince Autopsy Completed; Late Singer’s Body To Be Released To Family (Getty Images)

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However, the tribute could become the most memorable moment of the show, airing live on BET from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Muhammad Ali could also be honored at the BET Awards, though the network didn’t announce official plans to pay tribute to the icon, who died June 3 at age of 74 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Prince died of an accidental drug overdose on April 21 at age 57.

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Other performers to hit the stage Sunday include Alicia Keys, Maxwell, Usher, Future, Desiigner, Erykah Badu, Jennifer Hudson, Fat Joe, Remy Ma, French Montana and Beyoncé’s mentees, the duo Chloe x Halle.

Drake is the leading nominee with nine, while Beyoncé and Rihanna have five nominations each. It was not clear if Drake or Beyoncé would attend the BET Awards; emails to their representatives went unreturned Friday. Rihanna won’t attend as she is on tour in Europe.

All three superstar acts are nominated for video of the year: “Hotline Bling,” ”Formation” and “Work” will battle Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” and Bryson Tiller’s “Don’t” for the top prize.

Beyoncé and Rihanna will compete with one another for best female R&B/pop artist, along with Adele, K. Michelle and breakthrough singer Andra Day.

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Spike Lee, Taraji P. Henson, Jamie Foxx and Jussie Smollett will present awards, while “black-ish” actors Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson will host the three-hour-plus show.

Samuel L. Jackson will receive the lifetime achievement award and “Grey’s Anatomy” actor and activist Jesse Williams will earn the humanitarian award.

Other multiple nominees include Chris Brown and Future.

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