The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of '' Soul Train'', the program from which it takes its name, and features musical performances by various

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhy ...

and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

recording artists interspersed throughout the ceremonies. The special traditionally used to air in either February, March or April, but now airs the last weekend of November (in most years,

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

weekend). The Soul Train Music Awards voting body includes active professionals in the fields of radio programming and music retail and management and recording artists with records that have charted in designated music trade publications in the year prior to proceedings. Past hosts for the show include such R&B luminaries as Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, Patti LaBelle,

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resign ...

, Taraji P. Henson, and

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

. The Soul Train Music Award trophy has featured an African ceremonial mask since its 1987 introduction. A new trophy was designed by

Tristan Eaton Tristan Eaton (1978) is an American artist. Primarily known for his toy designs and street art murals, Eaton is also a graphic designer and illustrator. Early life Eaton was born in Hollywood, California, in 1978. He moved to New York City at 20 ...

of Thunderdog Studios in 2009 and is manufactured by New York firm

Society Awards Society Awards is an American company best known for designing and manufacturing high-profile entertainment industry awards, including the Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, GLAAD Media Award, and YouTube Creator Awards, among others. History Societ ...

. From 1995 to 2005 a separate award show named Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards was held, honoring female artists.

History

The 2008 ceremonies were not held due to several factors, including the

2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike From November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008, all 12,000 film and television screenwriters of the American labor unions Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) went on strike. The Writers Guild of America ...

, the ill health of

Don Cornelius Donald Cortez Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show ''Soul Train'', which he hosted from 1971 until 1993 ...

at the time, and ''Soul Train'' distributor

Tribune Entertainment Tribune Entertainment (formerly Mid-America Video Tape Productions, WGN Continental Productions, Tribune Productions and Tribune Entertainment Company) was a television production and broadcast syndication company owned and operated by Tribune Br ...

terminating operations in the wake of the sale of

Tribune Media Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...

Sam Zell Samuel Zell (born Shmuel Zielonka, September 28, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. A former lawyer, Zell is the founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm, founded in 1968. He ha ...

. With the rights to ''Soul Train'' acquired by MadVision Entertainment, the Soul Train Music Awards were presented on November 24, 2009 on

BET Her BET Her (formerly Centric) is an American basic cable television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. The network is a spin-off of BET with a focus on general entertainment targeting African-American women. The channel originally launched ...

. MadVision now holds the

rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...

rights to ''Soul Train''. The 2009 ceremony was held at the

Georgia World Congress Center The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) is a convention center in Atlanta, Georgia. Enclosing some 3.9 million ft2 (360,000 m2) in exhibition space and hosting more than a million visitors each year, the GWCC is the world's largest LEED certi ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, marking the first time in the show's 22-year history it was held outside of the

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

. The 2010 awards was held on November 10 just outside Atlanta at the

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre is a performing arts venue located in the Cumberland/Galleria edge city, in northwest Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The $145 million facility celebrated its grand opening September 15, 2007, with a concert ...

, and aired November 28. The 2011 show was once again held in Atlanta and aired November 27. The 2012 ceremony was held live on November 25 at

Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Las Vegas (formerly the Aladdin) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. The property was previously the site of an earlier resort known ...

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Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. As of 2019, Beyoncé is the most-awarded artist at the Soul Train Music Awards with 16 awards.

Ceremonies

Soul Cypher

In 2015, host

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

added a new tradition to the award show, the Soul Cypher. Similar to a Hip-Hop cypher, it features a quartet of R&B/Soul/Gospel singers coming together to perform a freestyle. Accompanied by an instrumental beat and a live band, the artists deliver a freestyle arrangement by incorporating lyrics, hooks and/or titles from their popular hits. A UK version of the Soul Cypher was introduced during the 2020 broadcast.

UK Soul Cypher

Trophy

The original trophy is a bronze abstract sitting figure known as the Vanguard in 1987. However, the trophy is an African mask which is known as the Heritage Award. Its distinctive design created by an unknown sculptor, but its remains a visual trademark for Soul Train's representation of Black music. From 1989 to 2007, the Heritage mask remained the trophy for Soul Train Music Awards until 2009 when BET and its sister channel Centric revived the awards. Thunderdog designed a brand new trophy based on the program's mascot, an actual train.

Award categories

Main awards

* Album of the Year * Video of the Year * Song of the Year * The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter's Award *

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

* Rhythm & Bars Award * Best R&B/Soul Male Artist * Best R&B/Soul Female Artist * Best Dance Performance * Best Gospel/Inspirational Song * Best Collaboration * Centric Award

Special awards

* Soul Train Music Award for Quincy Jones Award for Career Achievement * Soul Train Music Award for Heritage Award - Career Achievement * Soul Train Music Award for Sammy Davis Jr. - Entertainer of the Year * Artist of the Decade Award for Extraordinary Artistic Achievements * Soul Train Music Award for Stevie Wonder Award for Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting

Defunct award categories

Best Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the Gospel music genre. Honors in s ...

* Best Gospel Album – Group or Band * Best Gospel Album – Solo * Best Jazz Album * Best Jazz Album – Group, Band or Duo * Best Jazz Album – Solo * Best Rap Single *

Best Rap Album The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories ...

* Best R&B/Soul Album – Male * Best R&B/Soul Album – Female * Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo * Best R&B/Soul Single – Male * Best R&B/Soul Single – Female * Best R&B/Soul Single – Group, Band or Duo * The Sprite Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Dance Cut

Most Awarded Artists

References

External links

Soul Train Awards Official Site

Soul Train Official Site
{{musicawards American music awards Performing arts trophies Awards established in 1987 Television series by Tribune Entertainment