NAACP Image Awards: Beyoncé, Rihanna among winners from first night
The 54th edition of the NAACP Image Awards was held on Monday. The winners will be announced all week via streaming presentations leading up to the live ceremony which is set to air on Saturday (February 25). The first night of the annual awards ceremony was hosted by actor Khleo Thomas and a number of artists were presented awards in the outstanding recording categories.
Beyoncé won big on the first night
Just weeks after becoming the most celebrated artist in the history of the Grammy Awards, the singer's reign continued at the NAACP Image Awards, where she won three more awards. Queen Bey took home the most awards including Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Soul/R&B Song for Cuff It, and Outstanding Album for Renaissance. Beyoncé had been tied with rapper Kendrick Lamar for most nominations.
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Chris Brown was adjudged Outstanding Male Artist
American singer-actor Chris Brown was the next top winner of the night after Beyoncé. He bagged two awards for Outstanding Male Artist, and Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Contemporary) with Wizkid for Call Me Every Day from album Breezy, respectively. Meanwhile, Rihanna was awarded for Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album for her song Lift Me Up from the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Other notable winners and a look at the leading nominees
Other notable winners included Silk Sonic for Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration for Love's Train, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was bestowed with the coveted Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album award, among others. In this year's motion picture categories, Black Panther is leading with a total of 12 nominations, followed by The Woman King (nine nominations), Till (seven nominations), and A Jazzman's Blues (four nominations).
Know more about the Image Awards
The 54th edition of the annual awards is going to be held in-person for the first time after February 2020, and many of the top categories will be presented during the week-long ceremony. Notably, the awards recognize the achievements and performances of people of color across more than 80 categories. This year new awards for outstanding hairstyling, make-up, and costume design have been introduced.