2017 BET Awards Results & Recap: Beyonce & Bruno Mars Take Top Vocal Prizes

by Jacob KayeJune 26, 2017, 3:10 pmNews, News Feed >

While the 2017 BET Awards may have given out less awards than they have in the past, Sunday night’s ceremony still saw plenty of winners and plenty of performances. Hosted by Saturday Night Live‘s Leslie Jones, the night, despite the lack of awards, was an all-around celebration of black entertainment, entertainers, and activists.

As has become expected of any high-octane award show, Bruno Mars kicked off the festivities with an energizing performance of his song “Perm.”

The crowd, both at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles and at home, were then treated to performances by Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, Trey Songs, and French Montana. Later in the show, Kendrick Lamar surprised fans by joining Future for a remix of Future’s hit, “Mask Off.” Lamar also linked up with Rihanna twice to perform both “LOYALTY” and “Wild Thoughts,” in addition to performing “HUMBLE,” a single from his most recent album DAMN.

One of the biggest performances of the night came from DJ Khaled, Quevo, Chance the Rapper, Justin Bieber, and Lil Wayne, when the five musicians performed “I’m the One,” a song that currently sits at number two on the Billboard 100 Chart.

Beyond the songs at the top of the charts, there was also a major throw back to the ’90s when R&B group Xscape performed several of their hits including “Understanding,” “Who Can I Run To?,” and “Just Kickin’ It.”

And while the performances made up a bulk of the four-hour show, there still were awards given out. Some of the most notable awards included Mars’ award for Best Male R&B/Pop Artist and Beyonce‘s award for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist – Beyonce, who gave birth to twins just last week, was not in attendance but still racked up five wins.

Another big winner on the night was Chance the Rapper, who won the Best New Artist Award, Best Collaboration (“No Problem” featuring 2 Chainz), and the Humanitarian Award, which he won for his work in his hometown, Chicago.

“This is overwhelming,” said Chance during his acceptance speech. “I’m 24. To be receiving something like this at my age, it feels good. It feels a little early, but my God doesn’t make mistakes. I like to think that he’s putting this pressure on me to see how I react.”

Music wasn’t the only form of art celebrated as Taraji P. Henson won the award for Best Actress and Mahershala Ali won the award for Best Actor. Serena Williams and Stephen Curry were also awarded for their achievements in sports.

A full list of winners from last night’s BET Awards appears below.