Rihanna will receive the President’s Award during the 51st NAACP Image Awards this month.
The NAACP announced Tuesday (Feb. 4) that it had selected the 31-year-old pop star and fashion icon for her “groundbreaking career as an artist and musician, but (someone who) has also distinguished herself as a stellar public servant.”
Rihanna will be given the award during the Feb. 22 ceremony that will be televised for the first time on BET. The show will air live from Pasadena, California.
Previous recipients include Jay-Z, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson and Condoleezza Rice.
Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, is a nine-time Grammy winner who launched her own fashion line last year called Fenty with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group. She also has a lingerie line, Savage X Fenty, that debuted in 2018.
NAACP president Derrick Johnson said Rihanna “epitomizes the type of character, grace and devotion to justice” that the organization seeks to highlight.
