BET Awards: A Look Back at the 25-Year Legacy of ‘Culture’s Biggest Night’

Given the ramp-up to tonight’s BET Awards — Kendrick Lamar leading the charge with 10 nominations; Lil Wayne, GloRilla, Playboi Carti and Leon Thomas performing; a salute to video countdown show 106 & Park and not one but four Ultimate Icon Award honorees: Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg and Kirk Franklin — no doubt more than a few people will be tuning in as “Culture’s Biggest Night” celebrates its 25th anniversary.

And that should come as no surprise. Because in the last 25 years, the BET Awards show has lived up to that lofty tag line while, in turn, cementing the show’s venerable legacy.

As Connie Orlando, BET’s executive vp of specials, music programming and music strategy, noted in a 2021 Billboard interview, “If you look at the BET Awards — ‘culture’s biggest night’ — it’s big. It’s Black excellence. It’s the best of the best. We want to thunder home a message about music, culture and everything.”

The show had accomplished just that the year before Orlando’s above-referenced comments when it went virtual in June 2020 — exceeding expectations and garnering fans’ and critics’ praise despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. In setting the show’s culturally empowering tone, host/actress Amanda Seales delivered a searing monologue about the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor while questioning renewed white fervor for civil rights in the wake of Juneteenth being designated as a national holiday: “…Y’all don’t let them Cinco de Mayo our day. If we ain’t watchful, every June 19th, folks going to be at the bar wearing Frederick Douglass wig hats, ordering ‘Harriettinis’ off the drink special.”

But that wasn’t the only reason that 3.7 million viewers tuned in that evening. The riveting performances and special awards were just as memorable. There was Megan Thee Stallion revving up an ATV in the desert — along with her formidable twerking prowess — for “Girls in the Hood” and “Savage (Remix),” riveting tributes to late pioneers Little Richard and Kobe Bryant and former First Lady Michelle Obama presenting that year’s Humanitarian Award to Beyoncé in recognition of the star’s charitable endeavors and fight against sexism and racism.

Other social media and water-cooler moments spring to mind as well. Like Michael Jackson trading fancy footwork (to rabid audience screams) with his idol James Brown before presenting the Godfather of Soul with BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. Or Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett being the first married couple to host the show in 2005. Then 19 years later Smith returned to the BET Awards stage last year for his first solo performance on a major awards show since his infamous Oscar slap in 2022 that got him banned from Academy Award events for 10 years.

Let’s not forget Jamie Foxx’s compassionate yet joyous turn as host for the 2009 ceremony, just days after Jackson’s untimely death. In a rousing tribute to the singer-songwriter, the Oscar winner donned a red jacket and one jeweled glove to perform “Beat It” before being joined onstage by an emotional Janet Jackson. “We’re going to celebrate this Black man,” Foxx declared at one point during what became one of the highest-rated BET Awards shows ever with more than 10 million viewers. “He belongs to us, and we shared him with everybody else.”

And the list goes on. Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar opening the show in 2016 with an astonishing, splashy performance of “Freedom.” Prince hoisting one of Patti LaBelle’s high-heeled shoes in the air after her stirring interpretation of “Purple Rain” during his 2010 lifetime achievement induction. Charlie Wilson’s own bar-raising lifetime award presentation featuring Snoop Dogg, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake in 2013. Chris Brown’s electrifying dance moves in tribute to Jackson in 2010 and again in 2011 before taking home four statuettes as that year’s top winner. Not to mention illuminating performances in salute to lifetime achievement queens Chaka Khan and Mary J. Blige in 2006 and 2019. Not to mention surprise reunions over the years like New Edition and En Vogue.

Such memorable moments haven’t been limited to artist performances or the colorful cast of hosts along the way, including Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Hart (marking his second time as emcee tonight) and Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross. Actor Samuel L. Jackson was at the helm in 2016 when Grey’s Anatomy star and activist Jesse Williams’ impassioned speech after accepting BET’s Humanitarian Award literally stole the show. “We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us,” Williams declared in part, “burying Black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil — Black gold! — ghettoizing and demeaning our creations and stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.”

Like other award ceremonies, BET has also endured its share of bumps and bruises in the ongoing tug of war between captivating audiences in a 24/7 media world and lower ratings. In 2022, Lil Nas X tweeted his dismay (“Thank you bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations again”) and even released a song, “Late to Da Party,” about the matter. In a statement, BET cited his 2020 nomination and performances on the show in 2019 and 2021 and added in part, “We love Lil Nas X … At BET, we are passionate advocates for the wonderful diversity that exists within our community.”

Speaking of ratings, the 2024 BET Awards claimed bragging rights as the No. 1 cable awards show, drawing more than 3 million viewers, according to Nielsen — and its highest viewership in the coveted 18-49 demographic in five years. In addition to Usher receiving the lifetime achievement award, the boost was further propelled by Will Smith’s first performance on the BET stage and country artists being spotlighted for the first time as well with performances by Shaboozey and Tanner Adell. “This groundbreaking inclusion of country music highlighted Black music’s rich history, diversity and landscape” and “celebrated the fullness of Black music,” BET said in a statement.

Ultimately, it’s the cultural impact that stands at the heart of the BET Awards’ legacy, not ratings. As BET itself marks its 45th anniversary at a time when diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are being erased, books are being banned and revisionist history is becoming a popular pastime, it’s imperative that Black voices not be silenced but celebrated and chronicled.

“For 25 years, the BET Awards has stood as the most coveted and authentic stage for celebrating Black culture; not just in music but in all its dynamic expressions,” Orlando tells Billboard ahead of tonight’s show. “No other award show carries the same responsibility, resonance or expectation. [The audience] comes for joy, for protest, for healing; to see Black Excellence in all its complexity, creativity and power. That’s what makes the BET Awards unlike anything else — and why it continues to matter so deeply.”

So stay tuned for what “Culture’s Biggest Night” has in store this time around.