Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Doechii among early winners of NAACP Image Awards handed out in pre-live show virtual ceremony
Before the Image Awards live broadcast on February 22, the NAACP held a two-night virtual ceremony where several awards were handed out.
The Knowles-Carter family continues to rack up hardware during this awards season. Both Beyoncé and her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, took home NAACP Image Awards during night two of the virtual award ceremony, leading up to the live broadcast of the 56th NAACP Image Awards, which will be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 22. Several awards were given out in the virtual ceremonies in the worlds of music, television, film, podcasting, and literature, among others.
Beyoncé received two awards, one for Outstanding Female Artist and another for “Cowboy Carter,” which took the award for Outstanding Album. “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé’s historical and musical homage to the role of Black musicians in country and Americana music recently won both a Grammy Award for Best Country Album and for the highly coveted Album of the Year, an accolade that has eluded the legend for her entire career. Queen Bey, though, isn’t the only member of the household to bring home a new statue for the mantle; Blue Ivy won an Image Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in a Motion Picture for her work as “Kiara” in “Mufasa: The Lion King.”
Additional winners of note include Kendrick Lamar, who won more awards for his ubiquitous chart-topping diss record, “Not Like Us” — taking home the honor for Outstanding Song in Hip-Hop/Rap. Chris Brown took home the award for Outstanding Male Artist and fan-favorite Doechii took home the hardware for Outstanding New Artist.
Tyler Perry’s historical non-fiction film, “The Six Triple Eight,” took home the award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, while the film’s star, Ebony Obsidian, took home the Image Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture.
On the television front, “Gracie’s Corner,” the animated online musical jam session with lessons for toddlers, took home the award for Outstanding Animated Series. Marlon Wayans, whose family will be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame, took home an award for Outstanding Guest Performance for his role on “Bel-Air,” where he played the role of Will’s (Jabari Banks) largely absent father, Lou. Ayo Edebiri won an award for her role on “The Bear,” taking the honor for the Outstanding Breakthrough Creative in Television.
The entire list of winners (so far) is available on Variety and more information about the live broadcast can be found on the NAACP’s Image Awards website.
Along with the induction of The Wayans Family into the hall of fame, former Vice President Kamala Harris will receive the Chairman’s Award and Dave Chappelle will receive The President’s Award.
The 56th NAACP Image Awards will broadcast live on Feb. 22, 2025, at 8 p.m. EST from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, in Pasadena, California, outside of Los Angeles.
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