The Soul Train Awards Are Returning to TV—and Returning to Chicago

The Soul Train Awards Are Returning to TV—and Returning to Chicago

The Soul Train Awards are coming back. BET has announced that the 2026 show will be taped in Chicago and air Friday, November 27, on BET and, for the first time, CBS. The broadcast is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET/PT, with additional simulcasts on BET Her, VH1, MTV2, and Logo. (paramountpressexpress.com)

Chicago gives this return its meaning. Don Cornelius created the original Soul Train television show there in 1970. After it became a local success, he took it to Los Angeles and national syndication in 1971. For generations, the show put Black musicians, dancers, fashion, and creativity on television in a way few other programs did. It ended its run in 2006. The Soul Train Music Awards began separately in 1987, building another stage for artists whose work shaped soul, R&B, and Black music. Chicago is the birthplace of the original show, rather than the awards ceremony. (sova.si.edu, paramountpressexpress.com)

The awards last aired in 2023. There were no ceremonies in 2024 or 2025, and in 2025 BET said it had suspended the show while reconsidering its format for a changing media landscape. Now BET says the return will bring together artists who defined the sound and those carrying it forward. The move to CBS also places this celebration before a broader television audience. (paramountpressexpress.com, radiox.cms.socastsrm.com, paramountpressexpress.com)

That is why this moment reaches beyond an awards night. Soul Train was a platform for Black expression on our own terms. Bringing its awards back to television—and taping them in the city where Cornelius first put that vision on screen—creates an opportunity to honor the people who built the legacy while introducing it to a new generation. What the new format delivers remains to be seen.

This is a developing story. BET has not yet announced the host, nominees, honorees, or performers. Primetime News will update this piece as those details are confirmed. (paramountpressexpress.com)