Silk Sonic, Ari Lennox, Leon Bridges among the performers for the 2021 Soul Train Awards
Maxwell, Ashanti and Lucky Daye are also slated to take the stage at the Apollo Theater
With the hosts, the location and the nominees in place for the Soul Train Awards, the performers have now been announced. Gracing the Apollo Theater stage for this year’s ceremony will be Silk Sonic, Ari Lennox, Leon Bridges and Lucky Daye, according to a press release.
Also performing will be Maxwell and Ashanti. The two will be special honorees for the night, as Maxwell is receiving the Legend Award and Ashanti is receiving the Lady of Soul Award.
Silk Sonic, the duo of Grammy-winners Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, will make their first live TV appearance following the release of their highly anticipated album, An Evening With Silk Sonic, which drops on Friday. The duo just released the third single from the album, “Smoking Out The Window.”
Bridges released his third album, Gold-Diggers Sound in July, while Lennox and Daye are riding the waves of their latest singles, “Pressure” and “Over,” respectively.
In addition to the evening’s live performances, the Soul Train Awards will continue its new tradition of the Soul Cypher, pre-recorded performances of singers freestyling over music. DJ D-Nice is presiding over the tracks, while Musiq, Jac Ross, Koryn Hawthorne, Elle Varner, and Tone Stith will be improvising over them.
The beat the group will start with will be Aaliyah’s “Rock The Boat,” in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the singer’s passing.
“Soul music is a movement, and we are incredibly proud to give it a platform and produce a performance line-up that will exemplify the best of the genre and reach generations of music lovers across the globe,” said Connie Orlando, BET’s EVP of Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy.
“We could not be more thrilled for these exceptional artists to hit the stage at the historic world famous Apollo, in celebration of fifty years of Soul Train. This will definitely be an iconic night to remember.”
Presenters for the Soul Train Awards include H.E.R., Tristan Mack Wilds, and cast members of the BET+ series Games People Play and Sacrifice. H.E.R. is the most nominated artist at this year’s ceremony with eight nods, as previously reported by theGrio. She’s up for Best R&B/Soul Female Artist, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter’s Award, Best Collaboration, and Video of the Year.
Jazmine Sullivan and Chris Brown both have six nominations, while WizKid has five.
Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold return as hosts for the fourth year in a row. The ceremony, happening in New York City for the first time, will be taped on Nov. 20 and will air Nov. 28 on BET and BET Her.
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