Legendary music executive Sylvia Rhone — who was the first woman to lead a major music company — will receive the “Ultimate Icon” award at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The show will air on BET from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
According to the announcement, “The Ultimate Icon Award honors the trailblazers whose work has transcended their field, figures whose names have become synonymous with excellence. This distinction belongs to those few who didn’t just succeed within the culture; they expanded what the culture believed was possible, leaving a mark so enduring it cannot be measured by any single era or achievement.”
Rhone’s legacy encapsulates that and more: Rhone, 74, who stepped down as chairman of Epic Records last fall, began her career as an assistant at Buddah Records and rose through the ranks over the years to become the first woman to be named chairman and CEO of a major record label, at the age of 42 no less, when she was named CEO of Warner Music Group’s Elektra label (Metallica, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, En Vogue and Natalie Merchant were among the hit artists on the roster at the time). She was already being recognized with such descriptors as “first woman” and “only African American” to hold such a title. A decade later, she would take the chief executive position again at Universal Motown (Akon, India.Arie, Erykah Badu).
