Lizzo
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Stevie Nicks is praising Lizzo for her powerful speech at Tuesday’s 2022 People’s Choice Awards.
After being presented with the People’s Champion award by her mother, Shari Johnson-Jefferson, Lizzo admitted she’d gone back and forth about accepting the award in the first place, and then gracefully turned the spotlight over to a number of activists, artists and other champions she invited up onstage.
Nicks was impressed with the selfless gesture, and she posted her appreciation Wednesday (Dec. 7) on Instagram.
“Dearest Lizzo~ In my opinion~ your presentation last night on the People’s Choice Awards was not only so beautiful and so needed~ that you get the award for being a great woman of our time,” the Fleetwood Mac legend wrote in an open letter to the Special singer on Instagram. “I was so impressed and so touched that you put that together and pulled it off. It was stunning~ and everyone heard you. You have given all women soundbites forever~ flute player, singer, songwriter, future politician…? Your name is in the stars now~ Much Love, Stevie Nicks.”
Appropriately enough for the People’s Choice Awards, Lizzo turned her acceptance speech over to the people, highlighting an impressive array of activists who are effecting real change every day.
“To be an icon isn’t about how long you’ve had your platform,” Lizzo said on stage. “Being an icon is what you do with that platform. And ever since the beginning of my career, I’ve used my platform to amplify marginalized voices. So tonight, I am sharing this honor — make some noise for the people, y’all,” she said before introducing Mary Copeny (i.e. “Little Miss Flint”), Beauty 2 the Streetz founder Shirley Raines, Women’s March Foundation president Emiliana Guereca and many more.
Just last week, Nicks penned a poignant handwritten letter to her Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie after the “Songbird” singer died at age 79.
Read Nicks’ tribute and watch Lizzo’s full speech below:
Consider Lizzo the undisputed queen of TikTok. On Tuesday (Dec. 6), the social media platform revealed in its year-end report that the singer held the title for most video views of the year.
“Viral sensation,” Lizzo put it simply when retweeting a report of the news. The Grammy winner was followed in Nos. 2 through 5 by Bella Poarch, Bad Bunny, Charlie Puth and Doja Cat, while Selena Gomez, Nessa Barrett, Yung Gravy, Billie Eilish and Meghan Trainor rounded out the top 10.
Additionally, Lizzo’s choreography for “About Damn Time” ultimately landed at No. 7 on the list of TikTok’s most viral moments of the year.
The popular app also helped many a newcomer break through this year and released its countdown of the top 10 rising artists of the year and their hit songs, including Ice Spice (“Munch [Feelin’ U]”), JVKE (“Golden Hour”), GloRilla (“F.N.F.”) and Benson Boone (“Stars”). TikTok also played a major role in Steve Lacy earning his first No. 1 with “Bad Habit,” the initial explosion of Latto’s “Big Energy,” Omar Apollo landing his first-ever Hot 100 hit with “Evergreen,” and Muni Long bounding into the top 20 with “Hrs and Hrs.”
In other Lizzo-related news, the singer released her yuletide cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmas” exclusively on Amazon Music in recent weeks — which so far has cracked the Hot 100 at No. 94 (chart dated Dec. 10) — and opened up in a new interview about the racism she’s experienced within the pop music industry.
Read Lizzo’s reaction to her latest TikTok achievement below.
Lizzo is slated to receive the People’s Champion Award at the 2022 People’s Choice Awards, Billboard can exclusively announce.
Lizzo will be recognized “for her groundbreaking contributions to music and television, as well as her commitment to championing overall diversity and inclusivity across race, gender, sexuality, and size,” according to a statement.
In addition to this special award, Lizzo is nominated in four music categories – the female artist of 2022, the song of 2022 (“About Damn Time”), the album of 2022 (Special) and the social celebrity of 2022. Her Prime Video show Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls is also nominated for the competition show of 2022.The 2022 People’s Choice Awards will air simultaneously on NBC and E! on Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 9 p.m. ET/PT from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. Actor and comedian Kenan Thompson will host the annual ceremony for the second consecutive year.
The People’s Champion Award recognizes a person who uses their platform to fight important social causes and embodies being a champion of the people. Previous recipients are social justice activist Bryan Stevenson (2018), P!nk (2019), director/screenwriter Tyler Perry (2020) and actor Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock (2021).
“Lizzo is not only an incredibly talented performer and groundbreaking entertainer, she is also a role model and inspiration to fans worldwide,” Cassandra Tryon, svp, entertainment live events, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in a statement. “She leads with kindness, advocates for inclusivity, and champions increased diversity and equity in the industry and beyond. Her commitment to breaking barriers and empowering others to use their own voices to create change makes her a true ‘People’s Champion.’”
Lizzo has performed at the Grammys, American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, BET Awards and Saturday Night Live, where she was both host and musical performer.
Lizzo won three Grammys in 2020 and is expected to receive several more nominations when the nods for the 65th annual Grammy Awards are announced on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Her three 2020 Grammys are best pop solo performance for “Truth Hurts,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100; best traditional R&B performance for “Jerome”; and best urban contemporary album for the deluxe edition of Cuz I Love You, which contained both tracks.
She won a Primetime Emmy in September as an executive producer of Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Girrrls, which was voted outstanding competition program.
Actor and budding director Ryan Reynolds was previously announced as the recipient of this year’s People’s Icon Award. The show also recognizes a Music Icon each year. That award has yet to be announced.
Bad Bunny and Harry Styles are the top music nominees for the 2022 People’s Choice Awards, with seven and six nominations, respectively. Styles’ tally includes a nod as the drama movie star of 2022 for his performance in Don’t Worry Darling.
Newly minted CMA entertainer of the year Luke Combs, 2022 Primetime Emmy nominee Selena Gomez, hitmaker Charlie Puth and the aforementioned Lizzo each received four nominations. Gomez’s tally includes two nominations for her work on the hit TV show Only Murders in the Building.
Live From E!: The 2022 People’s Choice Awards will kick off the night with a red carpet special at 7 p.m. ET/PT on E!
People’s Choice Awards and Live From E!: The 2022 People’s Choice Awards are both produced by Den of Thieves with executive producers Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager and Barb Bialkowski.
Lizzo went on an interesting type of ride while on tour in Minneapolis, Minn., this week.
The star took to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday (Oct. 12) to share a video of herself at the Twin Cities’ SexWorld adult entertainment store, where she rode a massive mechanical penis. Yup, you read that right. See her Story before it disappears here — but fair warning, it’s very NSFW.
Lizzo is currently on tour in support of her recent album, Special, which marked her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated July 30).
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Last week, the “About Damn Time” superstar seemed to have subtly responded to Kanye “Ye” West‘s comments about her weight during his appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight. “I feel like everybody in America got my motherf—ing name in their motherf—ing mouth for no motherf—ing reason,” Lizzo told the crowd at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Friday (Oct. 7).
“I’m minding my fat Black beautiful business,” she added before asking the audience, “Can I stay here? Who can I marry for that dual citizenship?”
During Ye’s interview with Carlson, the rapper shared his thoughts on the “demonic” promotion of obesity by the media that he said was part of a plot intended to hasten the “genocide of the Black race.” He also mentioned Lizzo specifically.
“When Lizzo loses 10 pounds and announces it, the bots … on Instagram, they attack her losing weight, because the media wants to put out a perception that being overweight is the new goal when it’s actually unhealthy,” he said. “It’s demonic.”
Lizzo sat down for Vanity Fair‘s Lie Detector Test on Tuesday, and the results were as amusing as you’d expect.
In contrast to the famous lyric in her breakout single “Truth Hurts,” the singer admitted she’s actually never taken a DNA test to determine if she’s really “100 percent that bi—,” as the song goes. (Though if she did, she’d be crossing her fingers to be related to Beyoncé despite her Detroit roots and Queen Bey hailing from Texas.)
However, when it comes to what it takes to actually be “100 percent that bi—,” Lizzo said, “I think it’s owning your identity and having autonomy of your body, and owning that. And of who you are and owning that. Having no shame in your motherf—ing game.”
Later in the interview, Lizzo hesitated to answer a question about whether she’s aiming for EGOT status now that she’s taken home her first Emmy for Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls (not to mention her three Grammys), saying, “See, you can’t spell EGOT without ‘ego,’ and I try to keep my ego out of my career and my purpose.”
Knowing she was hooked up to a polygraph machine, the “About Damn Time” singer was blatantly honest about how much time she spends on TikTok (“It’s a lot, it’s embarrassing”) and copped to having a secret Instagram account where she posts pictures with boyfriend Myke Wright, however she got caught in a lie about whether fans would be surprised with what’s on her TikTok “For You Page.”
In the section about her life, Lizzo revealed that she has, in fact, gotten apologies from former classmates who bullied her in high school for being a band geek. However, the apologies didn’t stop her from refusing to give the unnamed bullies free tickets to her show when they asked (“I feel like I should’ve said ‘yeah,’ but that would’ve been a lie”).
Watch Lizzo’s full Lie Detector Test segment below.