BET Gears Up 2011 Honors

NEW YORK -- The fourth annual BET HONORS gears up for a highly anticipated show this Saturday, January 15 with a television premiere during Black History Month on Monday, February 21.  

Acclaimed actress Gabrielle Union hosts the show for a third year, honoring legendary actress Cicely Tyson (Theatrical Arts), Oscar award-winning actor/musician and comedian Jamie Foxx (Entertainer), supermodel/entrepreneur Iman (Service), publishing mogul Linda Johnson Rice (Media), world renowned musician/composer Herbie Hancock (Musical Arts) and accomplished historian/educator Lonnie G. Bunch (Education).

The show's star-studded lineup includes performances by Trey Songz, Ne-yo, Lalah Hathaway, Yolanda Adams, Keyshia Cole, Guy, Tank, Angelique Kidjo, Naturally 7, Chick Corea Quartet and the Cicely L. Tyson Concert Choir. Some of the first presenters confirmed are Tyler Perry, Cedric the Entertainer, Anika Noni Rose, Hill Harper, Jimmie Jam and Noah Gray Cabey.

Stephen Hill, President of Music Programming and Specials, BET Networks, and Lynne Harris Taylor, Vice President of Specials, BET Networks are executive producers, along with John Cossette of John Cossette Productions.

Proceeds from this year's BET HONORS private ticket sales will be given to the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.

About BET Networks
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides video, entertainment, news, ringtones and more to wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.