Beyoncé To Receive Innovator Award At 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards

Amongst the many accolades and honors that Beyoncé has received throughout her stellar career, she will now be recognized as the ultimate Innovator at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

According to the media platform, the Innovator Award is given to one artist who is “continuously contributing to pop culture and the music industry.” Bey has done just that, as she’s transcended limitations in music, fashion, hair and so much more. The news comes just weeks after she announced that her next album, Act II, will introduce “Cowboy Carter” and tap into her country roots.

“Few artists in the course of history have taken creative risks, successfully transformed their music and influenced pop culture on the level that Beyoncé has,” stated the platform in a press release. “Throughout the years, this unstoppable icon has created music that has topped the charts across multiple formats, while also architecting groundbreaking tours, including last year’s ‘Renaissance World Tour’ which became the highest-grossing tour in history for both an R&B artist and a Black female artist.

“In addition to her music accolades, Beyoncé’s philanthropic efforts has helped communities around the world,” it continued. “All this makes Queen Bey the true definition of the modern-day artist innovator.”

This year, Bey has also scored five nominations in the categories of: R&B Artist of The Year; R&B Song of The Year (“Cuff It”); Favorite Tour Style; Best Fan Army and a new category, Favorite On-screen, for her top-grossing concert film, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.

The Houston impresario recently shared the album art to Act II: Cowboy Carter which features her in a pageant sash covering her bare body. She also dons a beautiful braided hairstyle with beaded bangs, while holding a smoking cigar. Upon releasing its first two singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” Bey also penned an open letter about her forthcoming LP, which she asserts is “not a country album” but a “Beyoncé album.”

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the supporters of TEXAS HOLD ‘EM and 16 CARRIAGES. I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” Bey wrote on Instagram. “That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”

Referencing the backlash she faced during the 2016 Country Music Awards performance where she performed with the Dixie Chicks, she added, “It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed… and it was very clear that I wasn’t. Because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive,” adding that “’act ii’ is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”

She concluded her letter by stating that Act II “ain’t a country album [but] is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” while also hinting that she “collaborated with some brilliant artists who I deeply respect” on the project.

The 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards will be hosted by Ludacris and air live from LA’s Dolby Theater on April 1 at 8 PM ET via Fox and iHeartMedia radio stations and app.