BET Awards

The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. The awards are presented annually, and are broadcast live on BET. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by artists, and some of the awards of more popular interest are presented in a televised ceremony.
Trophy.
The Award Trophy, inspired by three words - aspire, ascend, achieve, was designed by artist/sculptor Carlos "Mare139" Rodriguez. OutKast won the first award trophy during the first ceremony in 2001. In 2007, Society Awards, the New York firm who manufactures the award, enhanced the quality of the trophy design using plated steel and black crystal.
List of ceremonies.
The inaugural ceremony in 2001 was held at the Paris Las Vegas resort on the Las Vegas Strip. From 2002 to 2005, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood hosted the awards. From 2006 to 2012, the ceremonies were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The ceremony was moved to the Microsoft Theater (formerly Theatre) at L.A. Live in 2013.
Nomination process.
The nomination process is handled by a voting academy made up of about 500 people from the music industry, media, and bloggers. BET sends out ballots electronically and voters nominate deserving works and artists in all categories who they think should be nominated. Nominations and voting ballots are collated by Yangaroo, Inc., a leading digital distribution firm that works on many other televised award ceremonies, including those of BET sister networks under parent company ViacomCBS. The top nominees are determined in each category, and the winners are selected via the academy members' voting process.
Award categories.
Special awards.
The BET Lifetime Achievement, Humanitarian and Ultimate Icon Award recipients, along with the nominees for other categories are announced in a press conference. At the awards ceremony a mini-documentary is shown covering the honorees' life. The awards are given out separately. The Ultimate Icon Award was created in 2015 and presented in the ceremony.
The BET Lifetime Achievement Award is given a veteran artist or group who has made notable contributions to the music industry. The honoree is paid tribute to by current popular singers who perform the honoree's most recognized songs. The honoree will usually perform themselves after being paid tribute.
In 2002, at the second annual BET Awards, the category for the BET Award Humanitarian Award was created. The Humanitarian Award is given to a celebrity philanthropist who donates their time and money to a charitable cause.
In 2015 and 2018, at the fifteenth and eighteenth annual BET Awards, the category of the Ultimate Icon Award was created. It is given to a veteran artist whose career is deemed iconic by fans and critics alike for their notable contributions in the music, dance and music video fields.
Most nominated and winning artists.
Below are the current rankings for the most wins and most nominated artist (male & female):
Most wins (as of 2020)
Most nominations (as of 2017)
This is a list of multiple nominated performers, athletes & actors with 5 or more career nominations. Beyoncé is currently the most nominated performer with 61 nominations, solo and with Destiny's Child.
66 nominations
51 nominations
47 nominations
35 nominations
33 nominations
31 nominations
29 nominations
23 nominations
21 nominations
19 nominations
18 nominations
17 nominations
16 nominations
15 nominations
14 nominations
13 nominations
12 nominations
11 nominations
10 nominations
9 nominations
8 nominations
7 nominations
6 nominations
5 nominations