Teyana Taylor adds another honor to her growing list of accolades. The Golden Globe-winning actress and music star will be honored with the Icon of the Year award at the 2026 BET Awards.
The Icon Award honors an artist who has left a mark on entertainment, and past honorees include Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx and Usher.
“Teyana Taylor is the embodiment of what it means to be an icon in this moment,” Connie Orlando, executive vice president of specials, music programming and strategy at BET, said in a statement. “She doesn’t ask for a seat at the table; she builds the table, designs the rooms, and sets the mood for everyone who enters.”
Taylor’s career has evolved across music, film, television, directing, and fashion. Just last year, the Harlem-born performer won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Paul Thomas Anderson film Battle after battleshe received an Academy Award nomination for the same role and also received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album for her project Escape room. Taylor also joined Ryan Murphy’s team Everything is fair He starred alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the film Rupture.
The singer first introduced herself to the music industry in 2014 with her album Seventhfollowed by the release of her album KTSE With the certified gold single “A Rose In Harlem”. Her catalog of singles expanded with the double platinum “Gonna Love Me” and the platinum “Issues/Hold On.” She has collaborated with music moguls including Lauryn Hill, Beyoncé, Missy Elliott and Erykah Badu. In fact, just last week, BET revealed that Hill will also be honored at the BET Awards, where he will receive the Living Legend Award, honoring trailblazers who have mastered their craft but remain committed to the culture.
“You can see my patience in this game since I was 15, doing a little bit of everything,” Taylor said. Hollywood Reporter In last fall’s cover story. “This moment is much more difficult than if everything had gone my way when I wanted it to.”
Now 35 years old, Taylor will receive one of the highest honors at the BET Awards.
The 2026 BET Awards, hosted by Druski from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, will air live on Sunday, June 28 at 8pm ET/PT on BET and a number of other Paramount Networks including BET HER, CMT, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount, Pop, VH1, Comedy Central and TV Land.
Additional honorees, performers, presenters and special guests will be announced prior to the ceremony.
