Mary J. Blige will receive the Entertainment Icon Award at the 2024 Urban One Honors. The Urban One Honors: Best In Black will premiere on Sunday, February 25, 2024, at 8 PM ET on TV One and will be simulcast on CLEO TV. The award adds to Blige’s several accomplishments as the Queen Of Hip Hop Soul. Blige has nine Grammys, an Emmy, two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and a SAG nomination amongst her achievements. The singer and actress’s 15-album discography includes musical landmarks like her debut and sophomore albums, What’s The 411? and My Life, which affirmed countless Generation X women. Her musical legacy continues to influence contemporary singers and set the standard for the hip-hop and R&B collaboration. Michelle L. Rice, President of TV One and CLEO TV, says, 

“Urban One is thrilled to honor the incomparable Mary J. Blige as our 2024 Entertainment Icon. Mary’s immeasurable talent and award-winning music has shaped our culture and has had a profound impact on artists and music across all genres, but most notably the elevation of female artists in both R&B and Hip Hop across generations. She fully personifies the ”Best in Black” theme of this year’s Urban One Honors.”

Mary J. Blige joins previous honorees: Dionne Warwick received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Chlöe was recognized as the Generation Next honoree, Frankie Beverly was awarded the Living Legend distinction, and Donald Lawrence was celebrated for his inspirational influence. 

Angie Stone, Bebe Winans, October London, Teyana Taylor, Damon Little, Keke Wyatt, Chanté Moore and Nicci Gilbert are some of the performers and presenters at the event. Singer and actress LeToya Luckett will host the event’s Backstage Pass segment, where she will interview the honorees and stage talent. The 2024 Urban One Honors kicks off the celebration of TV One’s 20th anniversary. 

[youtube id=”OdQ5lH3-zXo”]The Annual Urban One Honors aired last night on TV One and will have an encore presentation Thursday night. The awards show celebrated some of the most recognizable names in music, film and television. Missy Elliott, Jamie Foxx, Clarence “The Black Godfather” Avant,’ Billy Porter and Chance The Rapper were among those honored. Urban One Founder and Chairwoman Cathy Hughes and actor Chris Tucker hosted the evening. There were performances from Anita Baker, Wale, Nas and more. Ne-Yo, Eric Benét, Chante Moore and Al B. Sure! did a tribute to the late James Ingram.  The event was also a celebration of the 40-year legacy of Radio One. The Urban One Honors will have its repeat showing Thursday night Januar 23rd at 7 PM on TV One. 

Heavy D & The Boyz get the Unsung treatment just days before the second anniversary passing of the Overweight Lover.

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Tammi Terrell was a charismatic artist who helped set the standard for the R&B duet with her partner Marvin Gaye. She never got a chance to make an impression as a solo artist because she died so young at age 24. The average person knows nothing about her except her work with Gaye. This episode in the Unsung series will get rid of that knowledge gap and give us a chance to know something about Terrell the person. The season premiere of the show is September 13th at 10EST.