Chaka Khan, Kelly Rowland & More Honored at 2026 Black Women in Music Dinner

Connie Orlando, executive vp of specials, music programming and music strategy at BET, has a lot on her plate right now, just two weeks before the annual BET Awards, which she is executive producing. But she still found time to spearhead the second annual Black Women in Music event, which was held on Friday (June 12) at the Audrey Irmas Pavilion in Los Angeles.

The event, executive produced by the Connie Orlando Foundation, is billed as “an evening celebrating the Black women preserving and protecting the music industry.” This year’s honorees were singers Chaka Khan and Kelly Rowland, choreographer Fatima Robinson, music executive Natina Nimene, Billboard’s Gail Mitchell and Gender Amplified’s Ebonie Smith.

Speaking from the podium, Orlando shed light on why the Black Women in Music event is so important to her.

“This gathering is the living answer to a prayer. We are here to support one another, protect our presence, and build a legacy of love that lights the way for the girls coming behind us. … As we celebrate unapologetically and stand in our collective joy, we know the reality of our world. As Black women, we are constantly asked to labor and be the backbone, often while our own well-being is ignored. We live in a climate that tries to minimize our power and rewrite our truth. For me, this evening is profoundly personal. Uplifting women, safeguarding our children is my divine assignment and life calling, and the urgency is real.

“This evening is my personal love letter to the iconic Black women who are the true guardians of the music industry. Having worked alongside many of you for decades, you are my peers, my muses and my friends, and it is my privilege to curate this evening, give you your flowers, and ensure your contributions to global culture are permanently etched in history.

And specifically for this evening, we are fighting a battle against breast cancer, a battle that is disproportionately stealing our mothers, our daughters, our sisters and our friends. Black women face alarming healthcare disparities born from systemic inequalities resulting in delayed diagnosis and inadequate treatment. So, my vision is clear: a world where breast cancer no longer exists. The Orlando Foundation is spiritually committed to education, prevention, and early detection.”

Singers Chanté Moore and David Michael Wyatt and violinist Yuli performed at the event, which was hosted by comedian Zainab Johnson. The event was brought to life by an all-Black women-led creative and production team, including Perri Camper Rivers (producer), Gabrielle Glore (creative director) and Wright Productions (event design and production).

The event was presented in tandem with founding partner Harbour/View. Additional partners include prestige partner Amazon Music and contributing partners Atlantic, BET Media Group, CMG The Label, Jesse Collins Entertainment, TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment), OWN and Universal Music Group.

Here are five highlights from the 2026 Black Women in Music event.

Khan received the Vanguard Award, recognizing her legendary status in the music industry and her lasting influence across genres and generations. The award was presented by Sherrese Clarke, founder and CEO of HarbourView Equity Partners. Khan has won 10 Grammys in addition to a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, which she received at the Special Merit Awards on Jan. 31. In 2023, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame via their award for musical excellence.

“I don’t know how long we’ve been trying to pull it together, but I think that Black women finally found the beauty within ourselves and each other,” Khan said. “I feel so overwhelmed right now, this evening, with high spirit. You know what I’m talking about. I don’t even know what to do with it. You know, I know that I am finally witnessing, feeling, smelling, hearing, listening to and being next to special people like me, very like-minded, we’re very alike, and it’s been never forever that I’ve been able to say that, or to feel that way about my sisters.”

“I want us to be in the trenches together, because that’s what’s coming, that’s what’s happening. This madness that we are witnessing right now all over the planet, we got a lot of work to do, there are lots to do, but I would rather do it. I wouldn’t rather do it with anybody else but y’all.”

Khan discussed her move to Georgia. “I had to get out of cities, so I could hear God to be spirit, and it’s done such good things for me. I might suggest that you take some time out of your busy schedule and the cause of that, you know, and take some time and go and lay in the grass, that’s what it’s really about. … I play with my horses, and I play with the chickens, and I plant trees, and I found a love and a reality that is necessary for us.”

After a long and wide-ranging improvised speech, Khan briefly pivoted to the remarks that had been written for her that were loaded into the teleprompter. “I’m going to be reading this thing. Yeah, I mean that’s what they wrote. I didn’t write it.”

Khan is too much of a free spirit to stick to the script, so she went back to improvising.

“I’ve seen trends come and go, I’ve seen many people I love come and go, and you call me crazy, but I talk to them, and it helps. It helps me. I hope they hear me. I know it helps me, and I think that there is a communication going on. I believe deeply in spirit, and I live by the voice of spirit, that’s [what] I live by. I can’t handle it any other way. So that’s all I’m saying. Black women have always been the heart of me.”

Kelly Rowland received the Velvet Guard Award, “celebrating her artistry and presence that have become woven into the fabric of culture.” Rowland is a four-time Grammy winner — three times with Destiny’s Child and once as a solo artist for “Dilemma,” her 2002 collab with Nelly, which won best rap/sung collaboration.

Knowles gave a very warm introduction to Kelly Rowland, who rose to fame in Destiny’s Child alongside Knowles’ daughter, Beyoncé.

“Kelly, you are a rare gem, and it has been a joy to be a bonus mom. You’re a superstar in every sense of the word, and you are also the best wife, mother, sister, friend and daughter anyone can ask for. … Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of watching Kelly grow into the most remarkable woman she is today. Her journey is an undeniable master class in grit and longevity, and while the world sees the superstar, the performer, the actress and the icon, I’ve had the opportunity to witness something even more special: her character and pure heart. Kelly has always led with grace, navigating every season of her life and career with strength, humility and an unwavering sense of self in an industry that can often challenge your spirit.”

There were problems with the teleprompter during Rowland’s speech, but she simply winged it and spoke from the heart.

“Mama T, thank you so much. Y’all don’t even understand how this woman just goes from myself to my sisters and making sure she shows up for us in such a way that is unbelievable at times, and I appreciate you, Mom. I love you. Thank you for calling me yours. I love being yours. I am grateful for you. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for always holding me and teaching me so much about womanhood, about life, about being a Black woman, about working our behinds off, all of it. Entrepreneurship, I learned that in your space. I love you. I celebrate you every day.

“To the women who have blazed the path in which we started together, I’ll start with [fellow Destiny’s Child founding members] LeToya [Luckett] and Latavia [Roberson]. You know, we started when we were little kids. It was just a dream. I’m just thinking about women who have impacted my life, because this is Black women in music, and I think about them, they were at the start, you know, the very beginning, we just were dreaming together, and then there’s Michelle [Williams], who came onto a moving train, a fast-moving train, and she did it with such grace, and she took everything that came her way. It just showed me what a woman she is, how strong she is, how I’m so grateful for her as my sister, and for having 26 years with her, and celebrating not just music, but womanhood, and what that means.

“To my sister Beyoncé, who was relentless — you know, we were relentless together — who was incredibly patient in giving of the gift and the creativity and showed us the work and made us just really push ourselves to work harder than everybody else. To be honest, that’s why you see all of the film, all those women helped to shape and make me into the woman I am today. To my mother, so many things that you learn about women once they’ve gone on. I’ve learned so much about my mom, actually not being here, about her strength as a woman. We moved to a city in which we knew no one, and we made a way, she made a way, and I think that’s what we do. That’s so special as women. We make a way, Black women make a way, right? We are resilient.