Beyonce, Donald Glover Win Peabody Awards
Beyoncé and Donald Glover are among the recipients of Peabody Awards for entertainment programs, Peabody Awards Board of Jurors revealed on Thursday. This year, four winning works in Peabody Awards’ entertainment and documentary categories have music connections.
Beyoncé now adds a Peabody to her collection of accolades for visual album Lemonade, which aired on HBO. “The audacity of its reach and fierceness of its vision challenges our cultural imagination, while crafting a stunning and sublime masterpiece about the lives of women of color and the bonds of friendship seldom seen or heard in American popular culture,” jurors said of her work.
Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, won for his FX television show Atlanta. “Donald Glover’s enchanting series on the struggles of two young black men trying to make it in Atlanta’s rap scene blends vibrant character study and rich socio-political commentary in delivering a detailed and textured exploration of a Southern city,” the judges noted.
Peabody Awards documentary winners were announced on Tuesday. Of the 12 recipients, two are music documentaries. Banger Films’ Hip-Hop Evolution was recognized by jurors for being “an entertaining, consummate history of hip-hop music told in a series of interviews with influential MCs, DJs and moguls who were there at the beginning of the genre’s birth and through its dynamic evolution.”
Film First and HBO Documentaries’ MAVIS! also received a Peabody Award. “More than just a biopic, this story celebrates the deep influence of Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers across music genres – from gospel to soul and rock ‘n’ roll,” the judges wrote. “MAVIS! illustrates the history of social movements in America and is a powerful reminder of one woman’s impact on popular culture.”
In its 76th year, Peabody Awards honor excellence in radio, television and other forms of electronic media. The winners for News, Radio/Podcast, Children’s, Education and Public Service categories will be announced on April 25th. The ceremony takes place on May 20th at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.