When the Soul Train Awards return on Nov. 27 after a two-year hiatus, BET president Louis Carr is promising viewers one thing. “We knew this couldn’t be a granddaddy Soul Train,” he tells Billboard. “We knew we had to celebrate the past — but also introduce the future of R&B.”
With that in mind, this year’s Soul Train Awards will feature only two fan-voted categories: R&B/Soul Song of the Year, with voting on BET.com and Spotify’s RNB X International Artist, with voting in the Spotify app. The revamped format for the two-hour show will also be comprised of tributes to three special artist honorees representing Classic Soul, New Soul and Soul Personified. Chaka Khan was recently announced as the 2026 recipient of the Classic Soul Honor. On Tuesday (Oct. 27), it was revealed that Durand Bernarr will be presented with the Soul Personified Honor.
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“We’ve learned over the last couple of years that finding a bridge for the generations is important as is honoring [legacies],” explains BET executive vp, specials, music programming & music strategy, Connie Orlando, who joined Carr for Billboard’s Zoom interview. “People miss that and really gravitate toward it. In addition to Classic Soul, we’ll have a New Soul award honoring someone who is super-hot right now. And we’ll have a Soul Personified award for an artist who’s hitting on all cylinders and personifies soul music.”
The New Soul honoree, as well as the performer lineup, will be revealed in the coming weeks. Two show staples will also return. One is the Soul Cypher, which featured Marsha Ambrosius, Eric Bellinger, Nicci Gilbert and Arin Ray when the Soul Train Awards last aired in 2023. The second is the BET Amplified Stage, which showcases emerging artists. The 2023 show spotlighted October London and Honey Bxby on the Amplified Stage.
The Soul Train Awards will be taped in Chicago on Nov. 5. It will then be broadcast on Nov. 27 (8 p.m. ET/PT) — including for the first time on CBS. Actor Anthony Anderson will host, as previously announced.
As for what prompted the award show’s return after two years, Carr — named BET president last December — says, “It’s an iconic brand. When we paused it two years ago, consumers in the community spoke and very loudly, asking, ‘Why would we do that?’ So I always knew it was one of the main things on my agenda to bring back because it’s important to our culture, our community and our industry. And I wanted to bring it back to its hometown Chicago, the best place to revitalize [the brand].”
Orlando also cites the popularity of R&B itself as a driving force behind Soul Train’s return. “R&B is back and so is Soul Train. It’s been a foundational pillar of Black culture, ingrained in American television history. And we’re super-excited to be bringing it back in a new way.”
Working alongside Orlando, the award show’s executive producer, is the production company Jesse Collins Entertainment. The firm’s Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay are also serving as executive producers.
When asked if the return of the Soul Train Awards also means BET will be bringing back its annual Hip Hop Awards (last aired in 2024), Carr replies, “You never know.” For now, however, the focus is on the revamped Soul Train Awards and further underscoring of the BET brand.
“We find ourselves in a space where there aren’t a lot of people celebrating Black people, Black history and Black entertainment,” says Carr. “And that’s our job.”