Missy Elliott is set to receive the Icon Award, presented by last year’s recipient, Janet Jackson, at this year’s Gala of the Stars, the annual benefit supporting Dancers Against Cancer.
A four-time Grammy winner, Elliott was the first female rapper to receive the MTV Video Music Awards’ Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, the first female hip-hop artist inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the first female rapper inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Elliott has amassed 10 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and five top 10 albums on the Billboard 200.
The gala will also honour dancer-choreographer Toni Basil (who topped the Hot 100 in 1982 with “Mickey”) with the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anita Mann, and director and choreographer Vincent Paterson with the Vanguard Award, presented by Julie McDonald and Tony Selznick. Paula Abdul (who notched six No. 1 Hot 100 hits from 1989 to 1991) will return to present the Paula Abdul Legacy Award, with the recipient to be announced. Dancer and television personality Maksim Chmerkovskiy will return as host. The black-tie gala will feature dinner, an awards ceremony and live entertainment, including a performance by Chloé Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies, the acclaimed all-female tap dance group, featuring Abdul’s hit “Straight Up,” which in 1989 became her first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. The black-tie gala will feature dinner, an awards ceremony and live entertainment, including a performance by Chloé Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies, the acclaimed all-female tap dance group, featuring Abdul’s hit “Straight Up,” which in 1989 became her first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100.
The event will be held on Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
