BET announced the nominees for the 2026 Soul Train Awards on Oct. 5, and fans, not a voting academy, will pick the winners in two new categories. Fans can vote through Oct. 16 for R&B/Soul Song of the Year and for Spotify’s RNB X International Artist, according to BET’s press release. The show airs Friday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. ET on BET and CBS.
Soul Train Awards 2026 Nominees: R&B/Soul Song of the Year
Ten songs are nominated for R&B/Soul Song of the Year. Voting takes place only on BET.com. The nominees, as listed in BET’s release, are:
- “Butterflies,” Brent Faiyaz
- “I Just Might,” Bruno Mars
- “It Depends,” Chris Brown featuring Bryson Tiller
- “Who Knows,” Daniel Caesar
- “Yukon,” Justin Bieber
- “Folded,” Kehlani
- “Is It a Crime,” Mariah the Scientist featuring Kali Uchis
- “Man I Need,” Olivia Dean
- “What You Need,” Tems
- “Chanel,” Tyla
Connie Orlando, executive vice president of specials, music programming and music strategy at BET, said, “We’re thrilled to put the vote in the fans’ hands for the first time,” in the same release. She also said the categories show how far the genre reaches right now. Orlando is the BET executive producer of the show.
The release does not describe a judging panel or a weighting formula for this category, and it says fans decide the winners. That makes the song category a straight popularity contest among the 10 titles, with the vote running on BET’s own site.
Spotify RNB X International Artist category
The second new category is Spotify’s RNB X International Artist. It has seven nominees: Cleo Sol, FLO, kwn, Odeal, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Tems and Tiana Major9. Voting for this category happens only in the Spotify app and is subject to Spotify’s terms and conditions, according to the release.
BET said the nominees were chosen for cultural relevance, streaming performance and overall impact. The release does not say who made the selections or how many artists were considered.
Spotify is the show’s exclusive music streaming partner. In BET’s Sept. 3 announcement, Joe Hadley, Spotify’s global head of music content and partnerships, called the show’s return “a significant moment for R&B and soul.” Toyota is the exclusive automotive partner. The ballot holds 17 nominee slots across the two categories, and one name fills two of them. Tems is nominated for “What You Need” in the song category and for the International Artist award. No other name appears in both lists.
Spotify’s share of the decision comes with a built-in reach. BET’s release says Spotify has 777 million users, including 300 million subscribers, in 184 markets. Subscribers make up about 39% of those users, by the release’s own figures. The International Artist ballot is open to that whole audience in the app, so the pool of possible voters for that category is far larger than the pool for the BET.com song vote, which BET did not size.
How the 20 Greatest R&B Songs of the 2020s Poll Works
Fans can also vote in a third contest that does not carry a trophy. BET is asking fans to choose “The 20 Greatest R&B Songs of the 2020s” from a list of 64 songs on BET’s voting page. Fans can vote once every 24 hours, according to the release. The 20 songs with the most votes make the final list, ranked by vote count, and the No. 1 song will be revealed during the red carpet show.
The numbers set a narrow bar. Twenty of 64 songs make the list, which is about 31%, so nearly seven of every 10 songs on the ballot will miss it. Because the ranking comes from vote counts alone, a song with a large fan base that votes daily can outrank a song with wider but less organized support. The once-per-24-hours limit caps how much any single voter can add, but it rewards fans who return every day until voting closes on Oct. 16.
The red carpet show is titled “Back on Track” and streams on YouTube and Facebook, according to the release. BET did not give its date or time. The countdown will be revealed there, and the 64-song list is hosted on the voting page rather than in the press release.
Soul Train Awards 2026 Broadcast Date and What Comes Next
Voting closes Oct. 16, which is 42 days before the Nov. 27 broadcast. BET said performers and honorees will be announced “in the coming weeks.”
Anthony Anderson will host. BET announced the choice on Oct. 1, and Louis Carr, president of BET, said Anderson is “at the center of this celebration”. The show airs on BET and simulcasts on CBS for the first time, along with BET Her, VH1, MTV2 and Logo, according to BET’s Sept. 3 release.
The ceremony is taped in Chicago, where Don Cornelius started the original “Soul Train” in 1971. BET says the series ended in 2006 after 35 years and describes it as the longest-running first-run, nationally syndicated program in television history. BET acquired the Soul Train brand in 2016. The 2026 broadcast falls 55 years after the series began and 10 years after BET took ownership.
BET said in its Sept. 3 release that the show is being reimagined with a new format, and the nominee announcement is the first view of what that means. Fan voting replaces a nominating process in two categories. A fan poll produces a ranked list of the decade’s best R&B songs.
The release does not say whether the show will keep other traditional categories. Jesse Collins Entertainment returns as production company, with Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay as executive producers alongside Orlando. Fans who want to vote can find the R&B/Soul Song of the Year ballot on BET’s voting page. The International Artist ballot is available only through Spotify.
