The New Edition will be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame during the 55th NAACP Image Awards, which will air live on Saturday, March 16, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and CBS. Queen Latifah is set to host the show.
New Edition are the seventh group to receive this honor, following The Four Tops, The O'Jays, The Temptations, The Dells, Earth, Wind & Fire and The Isley Brothers.
R&B singer-songwriter Frankie Beverly will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award during the NAACP Image Awards Dinner on Thursday, March 14 in Los Angeles. The award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to civil and human rights beyond their contributions to the entertainment industry.
“We are honored to celebrate New Edition and Frankie Beverly – two musical icons who have helped shape our cultural landscape with their remarkable talent and enduring influence,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “We recognize the power of their art in demonstrating the enduring power of Black excellence in the arts.”
Connie Orlando, EVP special offers, music programming and music strategy at BET, added, “New Edition and Frankie Beverly's influence laid the foundation for modern R&B, shaping the soundscape and appeal of the genre in so many ways. … We are thrilled to celebrate these musical luminaries, whose melodies are intricately woven into the very fabric of our culture.”
Both acts have received Lifetime Achievement Awards at separate BET Awards. Beverly's band Maze with Frankie Beverly received the honor in 2012. New Edition was honored five years later. Additionally, BET aired the miniseries The New Edition Story (produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment), which aired over three nights in January 2017.
New Edition achieved five No. 1 hits in what is now Advertising signHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the 1980s and '90s: “Candy Girl,” “Cool It Now,” “Mr. Telephone Man,” “Can You Stand the Rain,” and “Hit Me Off.” In addition, group members Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant and members of the spinoff group Bell Biv DeVoe (Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe) have achieved success in their own right.New Edition's The Culture tour was named the top R&B concert of 2022. Most recently, the group began a residency at Wynn Las Vegas.
Labyrinth with Frankie Beverly had a pair of No. 1 hits on what is now the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs of the '80s – “Back in Stride” and “Can't Get Over You.” The band had 29 hits on this chart between 1977 and 1994. Remarkably, Beverly was the sole writer of every single one of them. In 2019, Beyoncé covered Beverly's 1981 hit with Maze, “Before I Let Go,” on Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé and on its corresponding disc, Homecoming: The Live album. Beyoncé was born two weeks after Maze's record entered what is now known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, a sign of the staying power of Beverly's songs.
Both New Edition and Beverly have been under-recognized by the Grammy Awards. New Edition received just one Grammy nod — best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals for “If It Isn't Love” 35 years ago. Beverly has never been nominated for a Grammy – alone or with Maze.
The NAACP will recognize winners in non-televised image award categories March 11-13 his websiteduring the Awards Dinner on March 14th and the Fashion Show on March 15th.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/new-edition-honor-2024-naacp-image-awards-1235625770/
