Watch: Janet Jackson Becomes First Black Woman To Receive Billboard Icon Award, Shuts Down Show with Epic Performance & Speech

Posted May 21, 2018

Sunday night, Janet Jackson hit the stage at the 2018 Billboard Awards to perform a medley of some of her hits, and completely shut down the show. The Queen of Pop was honored with the Billboard Icon Award, presented by Bruno Mars, and became the first black woman ever to receive it.

via USA Today:

The youngest of the legendary Jackson musical family, Janet Jackson gave her first televised performance in nine years at the Billboard Music Awards.

She was honored as the first black woman to receive the Billboard Icon Award on Sunday in Las Vegas, where she performed a trio of her songs, including NastyIf and Throb.

Surrounded by dozens of dancers and wearing gold thigh-high boots, she showed off her well-known dance skills to get the audience up on their feet.

Bruno Mars made a surprise appearance to introduce the singer, who earned the Icon Award on Sunday.

Jackson used her speech to pay tribute to powerful women.

If you missed it, watch her performance and speech below.

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