Beyonce wins top honours at BET Awards

Pop star Beyonce emerged as a big winner at this year's Black Entertainment (BET) Awards, scoring victories in five major categories. The 35-year-old singer won the award for best female R&B/ pop artiste, album of the year went to Lemonade, with the track Sorry being adjudged as the viewers' choice and video of the year! Beyonce also won the award of video director of the year for Sorry and shared the honour with Kahlil Joseph.

Young gun

Chance The Rapper came in a close second following the Formation songstress, as he won three top honours for best new artiste, best collaboration featuring 2 Chainz, No Problem and humanitarian award. He also made history by becoming the youngest artiste to receive the humanitarian award at the age of 24.

The No Problem hitmaker was introduced by former First Lady Michelle Obama, who made a surprise appearance at the 2017 BET Awards and spoke of issues plaguing the country, including police violence, prison overcrowding, and public education challenged. "It feels a little early to get something like this. I have plans to tell the world and everyone watching to make the world a better place," he said. 

Round of applause

Kendrik Lamar was named the best male hip-hop artiste and he received a huge round of applause after he delivered his acceptance speech. Remy Ma beat Nicki Minaj and Missy Elliott to take home the honour of best female hip-hop artiste. Beyonce's sister Solange Knowles won the centric award for her track, Cranes in the Sky.

A special Lifetime Achievement honour was bestowed upon New Edition's Bobby Brown, Michael Bivins, Ralph Tresvant, Ronnie DeVoe, Ricky Bell and Johnny Gill, who spoke of faith and weathering "highs and lows" during a career that dates back to the 1980s.

Bruno Mars struck gold for best male R&B/ pop artiste and Migos took the prize for best group home. The awards night was hosted by SNL regular Leslie Jones. —PTI