Aretha Franklin, Berry Gordy and Ice Cube To Receive BET Honors

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and incomparable Motown founder, producer, songwriter and creative mind behind "Motown The Musical," Berry Gordy will be recognized at this year's BET Honors. Slated to air Monday, Feb. 24, BET Honors shows the world ‘what extraordinary looks like’ by saluting luminaries whose lives and revolutionary work contribute to and elevate our culture -- according to BET. "Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin receives the Musical Arts Award for an incomparable four decades in music. Berry Gordy, record producer, songwriter and founder of Motown Records and creator of the smash hit MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, currently bringing the legacy of Motown to the Broadway stage at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre, will receive the Visionary Award for creating the company that redefined an industry and became the soundtrack of a generation," reports BET. Kenneth Chenault, Chairman and CEO of American Express will receive the Corporate Citizen Award for his leadership in business and personal commitment to public service and philanthropy. Artist, activist and 2013 MacArthur Genius, Carrie Mae Weems is the Visual Arts Award recipient for her provocative art which tackles complex issues of race, gender and class through video and photography. Trailblazer O'Shea Jackson, better known as Ice Cube, will receive the Entertainment Award for his pioneering work in music and impressive career in film and television. Hosted by Renaissance man Wayne Brady, “BET Honors” will tape at the historic Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, February 8, 2014 and will premiere on Monday, February 24, 2014 at 9:00 pm* during Black History Month on BET Networks. Proceeds from “BET Honors” will benefit the Women Veterans Interactive (WVI), an organization that helps restore hope as well as provides housing options and support for veterans and their families in need. WVI was created to address the unique, and often unrecognized, challenges facing our nation’s 1.8 million woman veterans as they return to civilian life.