Lauryn Hill's BET tribute spotlights reggae from Zion Marley and YG Marley

Lauryn Hill’s BET tribute turned into a family showcase, with her children Zion Marley, Selah Marley and YG Marley each stepping into the spotlight during the 2026 BET Awards. Hill was the inaugural winner of BET’s new Living Legend Icon Award, a Sprite-sponsored honor created for artists and creators whose work stays essential because they keep shaping the culture.

The awards show aired live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 28, 2026, with Druski hosting. BET had announced Hill for the honor earlier that month, on June 4, and framed her as the first artist to receive the new category. The setup mattered, but the tribute itself is what gave the night its weight for reggae readers: it was not just a celebration of Lauryn Hill’s solo catalog, it was a public passing of the torch through the Marley line.

Zion Marley delivered the sharpest reggae link of the night with a reggae-inflected version of To Zion, the Hill song written about his birth. Selah Marley performed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, while YG Marley sang Turn Your Lights Down Low, keeping the family connection tight and unmistakable. DancehallMag singled out Zion’s performance as the emotional center of the tribute, and the choice of songs made the point plain: Hill’s legacy was being reframed through children who already carry the Marley name into a new era.

The rest of the tribute was built like a heavy radio set, with Queen Latifah, Common, Doechii and Lizzo among the names onstage, alongside SZA, Nas, Doja Cat, Tems, Tierra Whack, The War and Treaty, Alexia Jayy and Rapsody. BET’s coverage and other reports described the sequence as a broad salute to Hill’s catalog, drawing from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, The Score and other corners of her work. After the tribute, Hill surprised the room with an impromptu performance of Ex-Factor, adding another live moment to a night already loaded with legacy.

Hill also used her acceptance remarks to frame the award as something rooted in love, saying she does this because she loves people and wants them to have what she experienced. She also spoke about her parents, saying they loved her, poured into her and protected her. For reggae culture, the lasting image was simpler than the production: a Marley family moment on a BET stage, with Zion, Selah and YG turning a mainstream tribute into a visible piece of living lineage.