Lauryn Hill’s Joyful, Joyful Celebration & More Lessons From the 2026 BET Awards

The Story

At Sunday’s 2026 BET Awards, there were a lot of highlights, including Janet Jackson presenting Teyana Taylor with the Icon of the Year award, a jam-session tribute to late neo-soul star D’Angelo, and Cardi B’s motorcycle-riding victory lap. But the show-ending celebration of Living Legend Icon award recipient Lauryn Hill stood out as something truly special.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are discussing the overwhelmingly positive response to Sunday’s show and what other awards shows might be able to learn from it. The biggest takeaway seems to be the welcome return of Lauryn Hill, who enthusiastically enjoyed performances of her songs by Doja Cat, SZA, Lizzo, Doechii, Queen Latifah, Nas and more, as well as three of her children: Selah, YG and Zion Marley. Hill also gave a beautiful speech and performed two songs — “Ex-Factor” and “Everything Is Everything” — to wrap up the loving tribute.

Listen to our full conversation about what the BET Awards got right below:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Ella Langley two-steps her way back to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Choosin’ Texas,” how the top three on the Hot 100 are all country songs by women — for the first time ever — and how the Toy Story 5 soundtrack debuts on the Billboard 200 this week, becoming the highest-charting Toy Story soundtrack yet.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

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