After Billboard thrilled fans of Latto, Kim Petras, Lana Del Rey, and others with news the divas will be among the honorees at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards (as we reported here), the organization has now sent supporters of SZA into a similar frenzy with the announcement she’ll be taking home the show’s top honor: Woman of the Year.
Billboard announced Friday (February 10) that the GRAMMY Award-winning singer and songwriter will be presented the Woman of the Year honor on March 1 at the annual Billboard Women in Music Awards.
Following Ciara, Beyonce, and Cardi B, SZA will be the fourth Black woman to nab the trophy since its inception in 2007.
“Since she burst onto the scene in 2017, SZA has defied genres and continually released raw, powerful songs which have landed her music on the Billboard charts,” said Hannah Karp, Billboard’s Editorial Director. “The release of her latest album, ‘SOS’ has solidified her as a distinct force in contemporary R&B, and catapulted her into superstardom. We can’t wait to honor her as Woman of the Year.”
Livestreamed from YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, the event is set to be hosted by Golden Globe and EMMY-winning writer and actress Quinta Brunson and will recognize some of the industry’s leading female movers and shakers for their contributions to the music business and community-at-large.
Look below to see the year’s full list of honorees.
Ivy Queen – Icon Award
Kim Petras – Chartbreaker Award
Latto – Powerhouse Award
Lainey Wilson – Rulebreaker Award
Lana Del Rey – Visionary Award
TWICE – Breakthrough Award
SZA – Woman of the Year
General tickets to attend the Women in Music Awards are on sale now.
News of SZA’s Woman of the Year crowning came just days after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) took to press to announce the songstress had been credited a slew of new shiny plaques.
Leading the charge is the 2020-released ‘Good Days,’ which serves as the lead single from her top-selling sophomore album, ‘SOS.’ Sitting at 4x Platinum for sales of 4 million in the United States, ‘Days’ now sits as one of the singer’s highest-certified singles to date.
Only her hits ‘Love Galore’ (6x Platinum), ‘The Weekend’ (5x Platinum), and ‘Broken Clocks’ (4x Platinum) have been certified as high or higher.
Look below for the full list of RIAA updates.
4x Platinum
- ‘Good Days’ (Single)
2x Platinum
- I Hate U’ (Single)
Platinum
- ‘Go Gina’ (Single)
- ‘Kill Bill’ (Single)
- ‘Supermodel’ (Single)
- ‘SOS’ (Album)
- ’20 Something’ (Single)
Gold (for sales equivalence of 500,000 in the U.S.)
- ‘Nobody Gets Me’ (Single)
- ‘Shirt’ (Single)
- ‘Blind’ (Single)
- ‘Low’ (Single)
[source]
Already one of the best-selling R&B artists of the digital age, the certification upgrades push SZA’s cumulative digital single sales to 37.5 million in the U.S.
Original story here.
