Features
Bruno Mars, Kendrick Lamar & Mary J. Blige Win NAACP Image Awards
Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic – Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars performs at 102.7 KIIS FM
Bruno Mars and Mary J. Blige were the big winners of the music portion of the NAACP Image Awards, with Mars receiving the win for outstanding male artist and MJB being crowned outstanding female artist. SZA was named the outstanding new artist.
The live telecasted ceremony took place at the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif., Monday evening (Jan. 15), on what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.’s 89th birthday. The 49th annual awards show honors outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music and literatue.
The music awards were given out Sunday as part of a gala dinner at the Pasadena Conference Center celebrating the numerous non-televised categories. Mars and Kendrick Lamar each took home three trophies – Mars also won for outstanding music video/visual album and outstanding song for “That’s What I Like” and Lamar won awards for outstanding duo, group or collaboration for “Loyalty” (feat. Rihanna), outstanding song – contemporary for “Humble” and otstanding album for DAMN.
The musicians are both VIPs in Pollstar’s wonderful world of data too.
Mars was No. 4 on Pollstar’s Year End Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart, with a gross of more than 200.1 million in 2017 and more than 2 million tickets sold. He was No. 2 on the Year End Top 200 North American Tours chart, with a gross of 112.4 million.
Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP – Andra Day and Common
Andra Day and Common perform at the 49th annual NAACP Image Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Pasadena, Calif.
Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP – Andra Day and Common
Andra Day and Common perform at the 49th annual NAACP Image Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in Pasadena, Calif.
Lamar was No. 25 on the Top 200 North American Tours chart with 41.4 million grossed, and No. 49 on the Year End Worldwide Tours chart.
Blige also made the Top 200 North American Tours chart, landing at No. 150 with 8.2 million grossed in 2017 and an average of 3,551 tickets sold per show.) SZA was recognized as a “HotStar” on the cover of Pollstar in November. The alternative R&B star put in lots of time on the road in 2017, with support dates with Bryson Tiller and plenty of her own headline shows. She sold out a number of gigs across the U.S., including the 2,454-capacity Warfield Theatre in San Francisco; the 2,346-cap Marquee in Tempe, Ariz.; and the 1,500-cap Intersection in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Petite Afrique by Somi was named outstanding jazz album and Greenleaf Soundtrack Volume 2 won the award for outstanding gospel/Christian album (traditional or contemporary).