Janet Jackson to Receive ICON Award at 2025 AMAs, Will Perform on TV for First Time in 7 Years

The American Music Awards are returning to television this year, and so is Janet Jackson. Jackson is set to receive the ICON Award at the ceremony on May 26, where she will also perform on TV for the first time in seven years.

The event, held at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, takes place during Jackson’s residency at the Resorts World Las Vegas, which she’ll kick off on May 21. Across her career, which spans over four decades, Jackson has won 11 AMAs (alongside five Grammys, a Golden Globe, and many other accolades).

Jackson last performed on television in 2018 at the Billboard Music Awards, when she saluted the #MeToo movement during her speech. “I believe that for all the challenges, for all our challenges, we live at a glorious moment in history,” she said.

Jackson is the third recipient of the ICON Award, after Rihanna (2013) and Lionel Richie (2022), when the AMAs last took place. They’re returning from a two-year hiatus, with three new categories: Album, Song, and Social Song of the Year. Jennifer Lopez will be the host, while Kendrick Lamar leads nominations with 10 nods across seven categories. The event will air live via CBS and stream on Paramount+. 

Jackson is the third recipient of the ICON Award, after Lionel Richie (2022) and Rihanna (2013). She received the Ultimate Icon Award at the BET Awards in 2015 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame four years later, alongside Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, the Zombies, and others.

“I witnessed, along with the rest of the world, my family’s extraordinary impact on popular culture,” Jackson said in her Rock Hall acceptance speech. “Not just in America, but all around the globe, the entire globe. As the youngest in the family, I was determined to make it on my own. I wanted to stand on my own two feet, but never in a million years did I expect to follow in their footsteps. Tonight, your baby sister has made it in.”

From Rolling Stone US.