Awards
Page: 50
Kendrick Lamar was just three years old in late 1990, and perhaps not yet an avid Grammy watcher, when MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” became the first rap hit to receive a Grammy nomination for record of the year. At the Grammy ceremony in February 1991, Hammer’s mass-appeal smash lost to Phil Collins’ socially-conscious ballad “Another Day in Paradise,” which featured a backing vocal by David Crosby.
As we approach this year’s Grammy nominations, which will be announced on Nov. 8, Lamar’s “Not Like Us” stands an excellent chance of becoming the 26th rap hit to receive a record of the year nod. We define a rap hit as a track that appeared on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart, which originated as Hot Rap Singles in the March 11, 1989 issue.
Just one rap hit has won record of the year – Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” in 2019. That sentence may need updating after the 67th annual Grammy Awards, set for Feb. 2, 2025. It’s easy to see “Not Like Us,” which returns to No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 in the wake of the release of the song’s video, winning that award. The Mustard-produced smash may have originated in a dis battle with Drake, but it already seems like the kind of classic single that will live on after this dis battle becomes a dim and distant memory.
As you’ll see as you scroll through this list, at the Grammy ceremony in 2003, two rap hits were nominated for record of the year for the first time. At the ceremony in 2011, three rap hits were nominated for the first time. Bear in mind, this was back when there were just five nominees in the category, making this very hard to do. In 2019, a record four rap hits were nominated, but that year there were eight nominees, making it at least somewhat easier.
You may be wondering why Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing),” which topped Hot Rap Songs for four weeks in 1998, doesn’t appear on this list. In 1999 her accompanying album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, famously became the first hip-hop project to win album of the year. “Doo Wop (That Thing)” was entered for both record and song of the year at that year’s Grammys, but it wasn’t nominated in either category. Go figure.
Here’s a chronological list of every rap hit to receive a Grammy nomination for record of the year. We show how high each hit climbed on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart and what won that year for record of the year. The year shown is the year of the Grammy ceremony. If “Not Like Us,” and/or some other rap hit, receives a record of the year nod in November, you can bet we’ll update this list.
MC Hammer, “U Can’t Touch This” (1991)
Image Credit: Robin Platzer/IMAGES/Getty Images
Marshall Allen, Marilyn Crispell, Chucho Valdés, and Gary Giddins are set to receive the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship. They will be honored on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at a free concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. in Washington, D.C.
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Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) said in a statement: “We are delighted to welcome these four luminaries to the ranks of NEA Jazz Masters. They have each in their own way played a crucial role in the nurturing and development of this art form and demonstrate the immense diversity and creativity found in jazz today. We look forward to working together with the Kennedy Center on events next April that will celebrate their achievements and inspire new audiences and musicians to embrace jazz.”
“This class of NEA Jazz Masters represents the finest in free-thinking musicians,” said Jason Moran, Kennedy Center artistic director for jazz. “Each has been an active and integral part of communities that have pushed the music forward to new heights.”
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Here are thumbnail sketches of the four honorees:
• Marshall Allen’s inventive and distinctive saxophone playing, as well as his band arrangements, have made him a major force in jazz going into his hundredth year. He is best-known for his work with Sun Ra, recording and performing with him from the 1950s until Sun Ra’s death in 1993, and taking over the leadership of the Sun Ra Arkestra for the past 30 years. He received a Grammy nomination two years ago for best large jazz ensemble album for Swirling.
• Since emerging on the scene in the late 1970s, Marilyn Crispell has become one of the most original and sought-after avant-garde jazz pianists and composers. Her adventurous and distinctive style was influenced by her first loves in jazz, John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor.
• Originally from Cuba, pianist, bandleader, composer, and arranger Chucho Valdés is one of the most influential figures in the world of Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Valdés has fused elements of the Afro-Cuban music tradition, jazz, classical music, rock, and more into his distinctive style. Valdés has won seven Grammys over a 42-year span (1980-2022).
• Gary Giddins has been one of the leading critics in the field of jazz for more than 50 years, having written books as well as essays for The New York Times, New Yorker, Esquire, and many other publications, and the “Weather Bird” column for The Village Voice. As a teacher, he has spurred new generations of jazz fans at several universities. Giddins won a Grammy for best album notes in 1987 for the Frank Sinatra collection, The Voice: The Columbia Years 1943-52. He was also nominated in that category for his notes for collections by Duke Ellington and Art Pepper.
Giddins is this year’s recipient of The A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy. The award is given to those who have made major contributions to the appreciation, knowledge, and advancement of this distinctively American art form.
Since 1982, the NEA has awarded 177 fellowships to great figures in jazz, including Kenny Barron, Terence Blanchard, Carla Bley, Dave Brubeck, Terri Lyne Carrington, Betty Carter, Stanley Crouch, Roy Eldridge, Paquito D’Rivera, Quincy Jones, Sun Ra, Dianna Reeves, and Henry Threadgill.
The NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships are awarded to living individuals on the basis of nominations from the public. NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships are $25,000 and can be received once in a lifetime. Visit the NEA’s website for detailed information and to submit nominations.
The deadline for nominations for the next class of honorees is Oct. 31, 2024.
Diane Warren and Jimmy Jam will be honored at the 38th Carousel of Hope Ball on Oct. 5 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.
Warren will become the second recipient of the Inspirational Lifetime Achievement Award, an award won in 2016 by Sidney Poitier. Jimmy Jam will be honored with the Brass Ring Award, an award that has previously gone to a wide range of notables, including such music stars as Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder.
The biennial event will once again bring together VIPs from the film, television, music, and business industries to support increasing awareness of type 1 diabetes, and raise funds for clinical care, prevention, and diabetes research at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes.
“I have attended the Carousel of Hope Ball many times and am honored and flattered to have been selected to receive the Inspirational Lifetime Achievement Award and to be part of an event that helps shed light on all the wonderful work being done at the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes,” Warren said in a statement.
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Jimmy Jam noted that the award has special meaning to him and his family. “My son Max was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of two, so receiving this Brass Ring Award is particularly personal for me,” he said. “Max had previously vowed, ‘I promise to stay in this fight and find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.’ I thank Barbara Davis for keeping that dream alive for Max and our family.”
Warren and Jimmy Jam are among the most successful hitmakers in music history. Both have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (Warren in 2001, Jimmy Jam in 2017). Both are Grammy winners (five for Jimmy Jam, one for Warren). Both are Oscar nominees for best original song (15 for Warren, one for Jimmy Jam). Both are Primetime Emmy nominees, with Warren winning for a song she wrote for CNN’s The Hunting Ground and Jam nominated as one of the music directors of Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince.
Jay Leno and David Foster will again serve as host and music director, respectively. (Foster produced Celine Dion’s 1996 recording of “Because You Loved Me,” the song that brought Warren her only Grammy award to date.) Clive Davis and Quincy Jones will reprise their roles as music chairmen, while George Schlatter returns to produce the show.
The Carousel Balls have raised more than $115 million to date, with proceeds benefiting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation and the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes. Funds are raised through sponsorships, dinner tickets, a live and silent auction, and contributions.
The 2024 Carousel of Hope Ball is presented by Dexcom, a global leader in real-time continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes. Underwriting support is provided by Sanofi. Additional sponsorship is provided by American Airlines and The Beverly Hilton.
RAYE, Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, Thomas Scherer, Ross Golan and the late songwriter Andrea Martin will be honored at the fourth annual SONA Warrior Awards gala on Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. at Herscher Hall at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. The awards are presented by Songwriters of North America (SONA).
British singer-songwriter RAYE made history at the BRIT Awards in March with six wins and seven nominations, the most anyone has ever received in one year. Her global smash “Escapism” was the largest selling single by a female British artist in 2023, becoming her first No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles chart and landing at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Stiggers is the co-founder, CEO and president of the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), which advocates for racial equity and justice within the music industry on behalf of Black artists, songwriters, producers, managers, agents, executives, lawyers and more.
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Scherer has been with BMG and its parent company Bertelsmann for almost three decades as an artist, songwriter, music publisher, music producer, label owner, and executive. Under his leadership, BMG has signed and re-signed writers in the U.S., among them Diane Warren, Bebe Rexha, and Lewis Capaldi, and has secured more than 50 acquisitions, among them Mötley Crüe, Paul Simon, Five Finger Death Punch, and Gucci Mane. In January, Scherer was appointed president of global catalog recordings, while retaining his responsibilities as president of music publishing in North America.
Songwriter and advocate Golan is the host of the podcast And the Writer Is, where he interviews top songwriters. His advocacy assisted in passing The Music Modernization Act. In addition, he served as the first songwriter on the board of the National Music Publishers Association.
Martin is best known for composing En Vogue’s “Don’t Let Go (Love)” as well as Angie Stone’s “Wish I Didn’t Miss You” and Leona Lewis’ “Better in Time.” She also wrote “I Love Me Some Him” for Toni Braxton and “Before You Walk Out of My Life” for Monica, and “It Kills Me” by Melanie Fiona. Martin was also a recording artist, whose singles in the late 1990s included “Let Me Return the Favor” and “Share the Love.”
Tickets for the event cost $241.94 or $535.38, with the latter option including a four-course dinner. Tickets are on sale now.
07/13/2024
This show introduces kids to the fun of watching award shows. To tweak the title of an old AC/DC album, “For Those About to Watch Awards Shows, We Salute You.”
07/13/2024
Barbie, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo all won multiple awards at the 2024 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, which were held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday (July 13).
Barbie won favorite movie, favorite movie actress (Margot Robbie), favorite song (Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”) and favorite music collaboration (“Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice with Aqua).
Swift won three awards — favorite female artist (for the third time), favorite global music star (also for the third time) and favorite ticket of the year for The Eras Tour. In addition, her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, won favorite male sports star.
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Rodrigo won favorite album for GUTS (beating Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, among others) and also favorite female TV star (kids) for her role as Nini on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Post Malone, who collaborated with Swift on “Fortnight,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, won favorite male artist for the first time. Imagine Dragons took favorite music group for the first time.
Reneé Rapp won favorite breakout artist. Four of the last five winners in this category identify as LGBTQ. Eilish won in 2019, followed by Lil Nas X in 2020 and Dove Cameron in 2023. The winner in 2022 was the straight-identifying Rodrigo. The category wasn’t presented in 2021.
Eilish’s win for favorite song is her third in that category, following wins for “Bad Guy” and “Happier Than Ever.” This puts Eilish in a tie with Harry Styles for the most wins in the category. Styles’ tally includes two hits with One Direction — “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life.” Styles won as a solo artist last year for “As It Was.”
Sabrina Carpenter took favorite viral song for “Espresso.” Bella Poarch won favorite social music star.
The show was hosted by SpongeBob SquarePants (voiced by Tom Kenny) and Patrick Star (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke). The show recreated the undersea home of Bikini Bottom, the setting of SpongeBob SquarePants. Unsurprisingly, the show won favorite cartoon. This year marks the 25th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants, which first aired on Nickelodeon as a sneak peek after the Kids’ Choice Awards on May 1, 1999, and officially premiered on July 17 of that year.
Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2024 was simulcast live on the east coast at 8 p.m. ET, and on tape delay on the west coast, across Nickelodeon, TeenNick, Nicktoons, the Nick Jr. channel, TV Land, CMT and MTV2.
Show highlights include an opening dance number, with Paul Russell performing his hit “Lil Boo Thang;” a medley performance by The Kid LAROI of “Nights Like This,” his current single “Girls” and his Hot 100-topping “Stay”; Serena Williams being honored with the Legend Gold Blimp, presented by Kelly Rowland; a halftime show moment featuring Jelly Roll, Heidi Klum and a marching band; and underwater scuba divers revealing Jack Black as favorite villain.
The Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2024 will encore on Sunday, July 14, at 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Nickelodeon, and 9 a.m. on Nicktoons, and on Monday, July 15, at 9 p.m. on TeenNick. All times shown are ET/PT. The show will also be available to stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, July 14.
Here’s the complete list of nominations for the 2024 Kids’ Choice Awards, with winners marked.
Favorite album
Various Artists, Barbie: The Album
Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter
Miley Cyrus, Endless Summer Vacation
WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS
Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology
Jelly Roll, Whitsitt Chapel
Favorite song
Dua Lipa, “Dance the Night”
Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
Doja Cat, “Paint the Town Red”
Justin Timberlake, “Selfish”
Beyoncé, “Texas Hold ‘Em”
WINNER: Billie Eilish, “What Was I Made For?”
Ariana Grande, “yes, and?”
Favorite viral song
Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things”
David Kushner, “Daylight”
WINNER: Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso”
Tate McRae, “Greedy”
Paul Russell, “Lil Boo Thang”
Tyla, “Water”
Favorite music collaboration
Lil Durk and J. Cole, “All My Life”
David Guetta, Anne Marie and Coi Leray, “Baby Don’t Hurt Me”
WINNER: Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice with Aqua, “Barbie World”
Pharrell Williams featuring Miley Cyrus, “Doctor (Work it Out)”
Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone, “Fortnight”
Taylor Swift and Ice Spice, “Karma (Remix)”
DJ Khaled featuring Lil Baby, Future and Lil Uzi Vert, “Supposed to Be Loved”
Jessie Murph and Jelly Roll, “Wild Ones”
Favorite female artist
Ariana Grande
Beyoncé
Billie Eilish
Cardi B
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
Selena Gomez
WINNER: Taylor Swift
Favorite male artist
Bad Bunny
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Justin Timberlake
WINNER: Post Malone
The Weeknd
Travis Scott
Usher
Favorite music group
Black Eyed Peas
Coldplay
WINNER: Imagine Dragons
Jonas Brothers
Maroon 5
*NSYNC
Favorite breakout artist
Coco Jones
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
WINNER: Reneé Rapp
Tate McRae
Teddy Swims
Tyla
Victoria Monét
Favorite social music star
Addison Rae
WINNER: Bella Poarch
David Kushner
Djo
Madison Beer
Paul Russell
Favorite ticket of the year
Bad Bunny: Most Wanted
Beyoncé: Renaissance Tour
BlackPink: BornPink Tour
Olivia Rodrigo: Guts Tour
Sabrina Carpenter: Emails That I Can’t Send Tour
WINNER: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Favorite global music star
Africa: Tyla
Asia: BLACKPINK
Australia/NZ: Troye Sivan
Europe: Zara Larsson
Latin America: Karol G
WINNER: North America: Taylor Swift
UK: Dua Lipa
Favorite movie
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
WINNER: Barbie
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The Little Mermaid
The Marvels
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Wonka
Favorite movie actor
Adam Sandler (Danny Friedman, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah)
Chris Pratt (Peter Quill, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3)
Jason Momoa (Arthur, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom)
John Cena (Jakob Toretto, Fast X)
Paul Rudd (Gary Grooberson, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire)
Ryan Gosling (Ken, Barbie)
Ryan Reynolds (Cal, IF)
WINNER: Timothée Chalamet (Willy Wonka, Wonka)
Favorite movie actress
America Ferrera (Gloria, Barbie)
Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, The Marvels)
Halle Bailey (Ariel, The Little Mermaid)
Jennifer Garner (Jess, The Family Switch)
WINNER: Margot Robbie (Barbie, Barbie)
Melissa McCarthy (Ursula, The Little Mermaid)
Zendaya (Chani, Dune: Part Two)
Zoe Saldana (Gamora, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3)
Favorite animated movie
Elemental
Kung Fu Panda 4
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie
WINNER: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
The Garfield Movie
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Trolls Band Together
Favorite male voice from an animated movie
WINNER: Adam Sandler (Leo, Leo)
Brady Noon (Raphael, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem)
Chris Pratt (Mario, The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
Jack Black (Bowser, The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
Jack Black (Po, Kung Fu Panda 4)
Jackie Chan (Splinter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem)
Justin Timberlake (Branch, Trolls Band Together)
Shameik Moore (Miles Morales, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)
Favorite female voice from an animated movie
WINNER: Anna Kendrick (Poppy, Trolls Band Together)
Anya Taylor-Joy (Peach, The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
Ariana DeBose (Asha, Wish)
Awkwafina (Zhen, Kung Fu Panda 4)
Ayo Edebiri (April, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem)
Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)
Kristen Bell (Janet, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie)
McKenna Grace (Skye, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie)
Favorite villain
Amy Schumer (Velvet, Trolls Band Together)
Austin Butler (Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Dune: Part Two)
WINNER: Jack Black (Bowser, The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
Keegan-Michael Key (Chief of Police, Wonka)
Melissa McCarthy (Ursula, The Little Mermaid)
Reneé Rapp (Regina George, Mean Girls)
Favorite kids TV show
Danger Force
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
WINNER: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Power Rangers Cosmic Fury
Raven’s Home
The Muppets Mayhem
The Really Loud House
Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan
Favorite family TV show
Abbott Elementary
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Goosebumps
iCarly
Loki
WINNER: Young Sheldon
Favorite reality show
America’s Funniest Home Videos
WINNER: America’s Got Talent
American Ninja Warrior
Is It Cake?
Kids Baking Championship
LEGO Masters
Favorite cartoon
Big City Greens
Monster High
WINNER: SpongeBob SquarePants
Teen Titans Go!
The Loud House
The Simpsons
Favorite female TV star (kids)
Hunter Deno (Amelia Jones, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury)
Lilly Singh (Nora Singh, The Muppets Mayhem)
WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo (Nini, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series)
Raven-Symoné (Raven Baxter, Raven’s Home)
Sofia Wylie (Gina, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series)
Tessa Rao (Izzy Garcia, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury)
Favorite male TV star (kids)
Chance Perez (Javi Garcia, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury)
Dylan Gilmer (Young Dylan, Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan)
Jahzir Bruno (Clyde McBride, The Really Loud House)
Joshua Bassett (Ricky, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series)
WINNER: Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
Wolfgang Schaeffer (Lincoln Loud, The Really Loud House)
Favorite female TV star (family)
Janelle James (Ava Coleman, Abbott Elementary)
Laci Mosley (Harper, iCarly)
WINNER: Miranda Cosgrove (Carly, iCarly)
Peyton List (Maddie Nears, School Spirits)
Quinta Brunson (Janine Teagues, Abbott Elementary)
Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano, Ahsoka)
Favorite male TV star (family)
Gordon Cormier (Aang, Avatar: The Last Airbender)
WINNER: Iain Armitage (Sheldon Cooper, Young Sheldon)
Jerry Trainor (Spencer Shay, iCarly)
Justin Long (Nathan Bratt, Goosebumps)
Tom Hiddleston (Loki, Loki)
Zack Morris (Isaiah Howard, Goosebumps)
Favorite male creator
Dhar Mann
Mark Rober
Markiplier
WINNER: MrBeast
Ryan’s World
Spencer X
Favorite female creator
Charli D’Amelio
Dixie D’Amelio
Emma Chamberlain
Hannah Stocking
Kids Diana Show
WINNER: Lexi Rivera
Favorite gamer
Aphmau
WINNER: Kai Cenat
Ninja
Preston
TheBoyDilly
Unspeakable
Favorite creator family
FGTeeV
WINNER: Jordan Matter/Salish Matter
Ninja Kidz
Royalty Family
The Beverly Halls
The Herberts
Favorite female sports star
Alex Morgan
Caitlin Clark
Coco Gauff
Sha’Carri Richardson
WINNER: Simone Biles
Venus Williams
Favorite male sports star
Cristiano Ronaldo
LeBron James
Lionel Messi
Patrick Mahomes
Stephen Curry
WINNER: Travis Kelce
Favorite video game
Just Dance 2024
Madden NFL 24
Minecraft
WINNER: Roblox
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Top Chinese singers including Zhou Shen, Xue Zhiqian, Tia Ray and Wang Yuan are set to perform at the 2024 Tencent Music Entertainment Awards (TMEA), which will be held at the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China, from July 19 to 21. Themed “High Five. Music Drive,” the fifth edition of TMEA will showcase more than […]
Shania Twain is set to host the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards airing live from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on Thursday, Sept. 26. The two-hour show will air at 8 p.m. ET/PT across NBC and Peacock.
“Country has some of the most passionate fans in music and us artists are so lucky to be supported in doing what we love,” Twain said in a statement. “I am honored to host an award show that celebrates these awesome fans. Get ready for an unforgettable show with lots of big hair, glamour, rhinestones, hats, boots and incredible performances. Giddy Up!”
“With a proven track record of creating music that stands the test of time, Shania is a beloved member of the country community,” said Jen Neal, executive vice president, live events and specials, NBCUniversal Entertainment.
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Twain is no stranger to the People’s Choice Awards franchise. In December 2022, she received the People’s Music Icon Award at the OG People’s Choice Awards, from which the People’s Choice Country Awards is a spin-off. She performed a medley of “Any Man of Mine,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “Waking Up Dreaming” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”
Little Big Town hosted last year’s inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards, on which Toby Keith received a Country Icon Award. Keith also performed for the first time since the end of his treatment for stomach cancer. The country legend died a little more than four months later, on Feb. 5.
Other performers on last year’s show were Wynonna Judd, who received a Country Champion Award, Little Big Town, Blake Shelton (who presented the award to Keith), Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay, HARDY, Jelly Roll, Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini.
Jelly Roll was the top winner on last year’s show, with four awards, followed by Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson, with three wins each.
The telecast was seen by 4.4 million viewers across all platforms. Content from the show reached 25 million cross-platform users (linear, digital and social).
This year’s show will air a little more than a month before the 2024 Country Music Association Awards, which are set for November in Nashville. CMA nominations will be announced later this summer.
People’s Choice Country Awards is produced by Den of Thieves in partnership with Opry Entertainment Group. Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski will executive produce, along with RAC Clark as executive producer and showrunner.
The OG People’s Choice Awards debuted on CBS on March 3, 1975. The show remained on that network through 2017. It moved to E! in 2018. NBC came on board in 2021; Peacock in 2024.
Serena Williams may have gotten the last laugh against Drake. On Thursday night (July 11), Williams hosted the 2024 ESPY Awards and, during her monologue, made a joke referencing the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, where she poked fun at the OVO MC.
“If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us, not a single one of us, not even me, should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar,” quipped Williams before breaking out and dancing to Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” “He will make your hometown not like you. The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re going to Forrest Gump him. Seats taken.”
In 2022, Drake fired shots at Williams’ husband and co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, rapping on “Middle of the Ocean”: “Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie. “He claim we don’t got a problem but no, boo, it’s like you comin’ for sushi/ We might pop up on ’em at will like Suzuki.”
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Ohanian responded to the Her Loss track on social media: “The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the best at whatever I do – including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter.” Williams and Drake do have history, as it was reportedly rumored that the two dated in 2015.
Lamar also came to Serena’s defense on “Not Like Us” when he stood up for his fellow West Coast native. “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither / From Alondra down to Central, nigga better not speak on Serena,” he rapped.
Earlier this week, Williams spoke on “Not Like Us” and dubbed it the song of the summer. “I love that song. It’s like the hit of the summer,” she said. “When they play that jam, I’m jamming. That jam is jamming.”
Watch the video of Williams clowning on Drake at the 2024 ESPYs below.
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Glen Ballard became the 2,374th recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today (July 11) with a little help from the members of Wilson Phillips, whose self-titled 1990 debut album—produced by and co-written with Ballard—went on to sell 10 million copies worldwide and cemented the friendship between the producer and the trio.
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The love the “Hold On” performers still shared with Ballard, also well known for his work with acts like Alanis Morissette and Michael Jackson, was evident and the emotional high point of Ballard’s ceremony.
Carnie Wilson who called Ballard “the most humble human being I’ve ever met” and the “fourth member” of Wilson Phillips, gave a little history lesson, taking the audience back to the trio and Ballard sitting in a his studio in Encino, Calif., “eating our chopped salads and pasta from Emilio’s five days a week for two years,” while they crafted the album. “You understood our need to sing harmony, our blend. We heard and spoke the same language.”
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Her younger sister Wendy, who was only 16 when they entered the studio in 1987, called their years together “a blissful time we will always cherish,” as she talked about feeling safe under Ballard’s wing as he helped them develop their sound.
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But it was Chynna Phillips, who made the attendees understand just how vital a role Ballard played in their lives that stretched far beyond his musical tutelage and brought herself, Ballard and many in the audience to tears.
“We were three girls who really needed a father figure,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. Carnie and Wendy are, of course, the daughters of Beach Boy Brian Wilson, while Phillips’ father was The Mamas and the Papas’ John Phillips. All three have had, at times, complicated and fractured relationships with their fathers. “The three of us were desperate for a man in our lives who would speak into us, and who would nurture us and love us and show us that we mattered and had something to say and we had it in us… You reflected that in us and you really showed us that we could do what we wanted to do with our lives… It was a very personal, very influential, very moving time in our lives, transformative. And if it weren’t for you Glen, I don’t know where I would be today. I just love you with all my heart.”
Phillips then shared one of her most personal memories of Ballard, reflecting his own father-daughter connection with his child Bannon, who died as an infant many years ago. “When I went to your house that you had built in the ocean Malibu area, the very top of your house, you had a wind directional. You told me you had put it there for Bannon and that you just wanted her always to be able to find you. I just want you to know her spirit is here today and always with you, and I love her and know that she is so proud of you too.”
Ballard, whose two adult sons and many members of his extended family were in attendance, graciously gave credit to his many collaborators, which also include Annie Lennox, Barbra Streisand, Aerosmith and Dave Matthews Band, for his success, but shared a valuable lesson he learned from working with Wilson Phillips.
“One of my greatest joys is being involved in artists from the beginning, from the downbeat as they say in music. When I met Wilson Phillips, they hadn’t made a record, and it was up to us to create the initial sound. Luminous, three-part harmony in an era of grunge music was a bold and unusual choice,” he said, which received a laugh from the audience. “Creatively courageous. But when we won the Tokyo Music Festival in 1990 and that week our record [“Hold On”] went No. 1 across the world. We realized that the counter program worked. And it’s a lesson that I’ve taken with me from that moment. Five years later, I met a young singer-songwriter, and we wrote 20 songs and they became Jagged Little Pill that was Alanis Morissette. We weren’t chasing the marketplace, we were chasing her muse. And it turned out well. And then five years after that, Katy Perry was knocking on my studio door and after we spent a year in Paris, well, you know the rest, it worked out very well.”
Ballard has also had a number of theatrical successes, including Back to the Future, which is running on Broadway and London’s West End. Tony winner Roger Bart, who plays Doc Brown in the Broadway version, also feted Ballard, praising his collaborative spirit.