Queen Latifah is 51 – midlife, perhaps, but hardly the age when you expect to start receiving lifetime achievement awards. And yet, that’s just what’s about to happen to the versatile performer. BET announced Monday (June 14) that Latifah will receive a lifetime achievement award at this year’s BET Awards on June 27.
She’ll be the third-youngest solo artist to receive the honor. The youngest was Whitney Houston, who was just 37 when she was honored at the first BET Awards in 2001. Second-youngest was Mary J.Blige, who was 48 when she received the honor two years ago.
While 37 may be awfully young to get a lifetime achievement award, it’s a good thing BET recognized Houston while she was still here to receive her flowers, to use a currently popular expression. Houston died unexpectedly in 2012 at age 48.
Prince was also on the young side when he received a lifetime achievement award from BET. He was 52 when he received the honor in 2010. He too died unexpectedly in 2016 at age 57.
