Following the nominations announced last week for this year’s Soul Train Awards, the first batch of performers has been revealed. Silk Sonic, Ari Lennox, Lucky Daye, and Leon Bridges will all take the Apollo Theater stage on Sunday, Nov. 28, at 8 p.m. EST.
Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars are expected to perform new and existing tunes from their forthcoming debut album, An Evening with Silk Sonic, out Nov. 12.
Lennox and Daye have music circulating in the top ten on the R&B radio and Billboard charts, while Bridges has plenty of tunes to choose from with his most recent album Gold-Diggers Sound.
Maxwell, who will receive the Legend Award, and Ashanti, who will be honored with the Lady of Soul Award, are also set to perform.
Musiq Soulchild, Elle Varner, D-Nice, Tone Stith, Jac Ross, and Koryn Hawthorne will participate in the Soul Cypher. With 2021 being the year of Aaliyah, the group of familiar and new faces will salute the late legend by singing over her 2001 hit single “Rock the Boat.”
“Soul music is a movement, and we are incredibly proud to give it a platform and produce a performance line-up that will exemplify the best of the genre and reach generations of music lovers across the globe,” said Connie Orlando, EVP, Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy. “We could not be more thrilled for these exceptional artists to hit the stage at the historic World Famous Apollo, in celebration of fifty years of Soul Train. This will definitely be an iconic night to remember.”
The 2021 Soul Train Awards nominees include Alicia Keys, Usher, Anthony Hamilton, Jam & Lewis, Normani, and others. H.E.R. leads with eight nominations, followed by Jazmine Sullivan and Chris Brown with six each.