Lizzo & Sylvia Rhone to Be Honored at 2023 Black Music Action Coalition Gala

Lizzo has been on an awards tear in the past few years, winning four Grammys and a Primetime Emmy. She’ll just have to make room on her shelf for one more. The entertainer will be honored with the BMAC Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award at the Black Music Action Coalition’s 2023 BMAC Gala, which is set for Thursday, Sept. 21, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Sylvia Rhone, chairwoman and CEO of Epic Records, will receive the BMAC Clarence Avant Trailblazer Award.

The third annual BMAC Gala will be hosted by entertainment/lifestyle specialist Kenny Burns. Previously announced honorees include Keke Palmer, Jermaine Dupri, music executive Jason Flom and TV producer Jesse Collins.

“The Black Music Action Coalition is proud to honor Lizzo and Sylvia Rhone at this year’s Gala, as they join a group of trailblazers who have made immense impact within the music industry and beyond,” Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, co-founder/chair Black Music Action Coalition, said in a statement. “We applaud their dedication to pushing boundaries, amplifying Black voices and crashing through those glass ceilings creating space for Black Women.”

Lizzo will receive the BMAC Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award in recognition of her philanthropic work and commitment to social justice. Past recipients of the award include Lil Baby, The Weeknd and H.E.R.

In 2020, Lizzo started her website Lizzolovesyou.com, where visitors have access to information, action items and ways to donate in support of marginalized communities and causes. Throughout the past four years, during her Annual Juneteenth Giveback, Lizzo has raised and donated over half a million dollars to 18 different organizations including Black Girls Smile, Save Our Sisters, The Bail Project and Reform Alliance. Following the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, Lizzo donated $1 million to Planned Parenthood and the National Network of Abortion Funds to support access to reproductive health care. Lizzo has been a longtime advocate for inclusivity and uses her music to empower marginalized groups to promote diversity.

Rhone will be honored with the BMAC Clarence Avant Trailblazer Award – named after the legendary music executive who served on the BMAC advisory board. Avant’s death on Aug. 13 at age 92 brought tributes from former presidents Obama and Clinton as well as many music industry luminaries. Past recipients of this award include Jon “Big Jon” Platt and Ethiopia Habtemariam.

Rhone has served as chairwoman and CEO of Epic Records since 2019 and was the first woman to be named CEO of a major record label owned by a Fortune 500 company.

Here’s a complete list of this year’s other award winners:

BMAC Clarence Avant Trailblazer Award: Jermaine Dupri, Grammy-winning artist

BMAC Social Impact Award: Keke Palmer, Emmy-winning performer; Jesse Collins, Emmy-winning producer; Dr. Menna Demessie, SVP, Universal Music Group, and executive director, Task Force for Meaningful Change;

BMAC Change Agent Award: Jason Flom, co-founder and CEO of Lava for Good and Lava Media; rapper and activist Trae tha Truth 

BMAC 365 Award: Tariq Cherif and Matt Zingler, Rolling Loud co-founders

Since Black Music Action Coalition’s inception in 2020, the organization has worked to address systemic racism within the music business and advocate on behalf of Black artists, songwriters, producers, managers, agents, executives, lawyers and other industry professionals.

The Black Music Action Coalition festivities will kick off on Sunday, Sept. 17 with BMAC x The Revels Group’s annual BLACK: Future. Now. Brunch. On Tuesday, Sept. 19, BMAC, along with the Save The Music Foundation and 1500 Sound Academy, will host a “Remixing the Industry: Creating Pathways for Students of Color” summit featuring BMAC’s “Prophet”; Cordae, Grammy-nominated rapper and BMAC Executive Leadership Council member; Aaron “Ace” Christian, Range Media Partners’ manager; and Dallas Martin, Atlantic Records EVP of A&R. The summit will provide students insight into having a career in entertainment today.

The 2023 BMAC Gala is produced by Primary Wave and Jesse Collins Entertainment and is presented by Live Nation with support from partners Apple Music, Google and Variety.

For more information regarding Black Music Action Coalition and the BMAC Gala, visit bmacoalition.org.