SZA, Kacey Musgraves & Hayley Kiyoko To Be Honored At Billboard's 13th Annual Women In Music Event

NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Billboard, the leading destination for charts, news, trends and innovations in music, announced today that it will honor SZA, Kacey Musgraves and Hayley Kiyoko at its 13^th annual Women in Music event, held in conjunction with the release of the Women in Music issue, on December 6 in New York City. Soulful and candid singer-songwriter SZA will accept the Rule Breaker award, genre-bender Kacey Musgraves will collect the Innovator award, and pop singer-songwriter Hayley Kiyoko will receive the Rising Star award. Ariana Grande (Woman of the Year), Janelle Monáe (Trailblazer Award) and Cyndi Lauper (Icon Award) have already been announced as honorees at the star-studded event, which also honors the most powerful female executives in the industry.

"In their respective genres, SZA, Kacey Musgraves and Hayley Kiyoko are creating necessary space for more personal, authentic expression," says Ross Scarano, Billboard's vp content. "It makes for provocative, perspective-shifting work that is challenging traditional notions of songwriting in R&B, country, and pop music. We're lucky to have three iconoclasts in one room together."

SZA will accept the Rule Breaker award, which recognizes a female artist who uses her music and platform to defy traditional industry expectations and advance a powerful message for young people today. As a dynamic new voice with an uncompromising songwriting vision exemplified on her TDE/RCA platinum debut album Ctrl (#3 debut on the Billboard 200), SZA has consistently upended the expectations of a modern R&B star while scoring Grammy nominations, multi-platinum hits like "Love Galore," "The Weekend," and "All The Stars" with Kendrick Lamar, plus a prime slot on Top Dawg Entertainment's best-selling Championship Tour.

 Kacey Musgraves is the recipient of the Innovator award, which recognizes a female artist who challenges musical convention, creates positive change and contributes new ideas both within and outside of her creative work. With her Top Country Albums-topping third album, Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves has evolved her traditional country sound with daring vision, while continuing to serve as an advocate for inclusion and tolerance as an in-demand live act.

The Rising Star award will be presented to Hayley Kiyoko as recognition of an up-and-coming artist whose cultural impact and exceptional talent have demonstrated a clear path to success. By serving as a progressive pop symbol and a spokesperson of the LGBTQ community, Hayley Kiyoko has used her bold debut album, Expectations (No. 12 peak on the Billboard 200 chart), self-directed music videos and live shows as platforms of empowerment, ensuring a bright artistic future ahead.

The 13th annual Women in Music event is produced by Don Mischer Productions. The red-carpet pre-show will be broadcast live on Twitter, 7pm-10pm EST on December 6. The 2018 event is sponsored by American Airlines, American Express, Fiji Water, Honda Stage and Nielsen Music.

ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS:
American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success.  Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress, and youtube.com/americanexpress.

ABOUT FIJI WATER:
FIJI® Water, natural artesian water bottled at the source in Viti Levu (Fiji islands), is the No. 1 imported premium bottled water in the United States. FIJI Water, known for its iconic square bottle, soft mouth feel and unique mineral profile, is the water of choice among discerning consumers and top chefs. Widely available at fine restaurants and hotels, all major retail channels and through a convenient home/business delivery service, FIJI Water has expanded globally to more than 80 countries. To discover Earth's Finest Water, please visit www.fijiwater.com, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

ABOUT HONDA STAGE:
Building on its deep foundation of bringing music to fans, Honda has brought together an unprecedented group of entertainment and technology leaders, including iHeartMedia, UPROXX, Vevo, Billboard and Universal Music Group to produce and distribute some of the best original, high-quality music content available. Honda Stage is a unique combination of live events including the Honda Civic Tour and premier music festival partnerships with Austin City Limits and Governor's Ball; and, exclusive online content offering music fans access to custom live and online music programming and performances, artist interviews and more.

For more go to:
http://www.youtube.com/HondaStage 
http://www.twitter.com/HondaStage 
http://www.instagram.com/HondaStage    
http://www.facebook.com/HondaStage

ABOUT HONDA:
Honda offers a full line of reliable, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles with advanced safety technologies sold through over 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic, Accord and Clarity series passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V and Pilot sport/utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan.

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for more than 35 years and currently operates 19 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2017, nearly 93% of all Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

ABOUT NIELSEN MUSIC:
Nielsen Holdings plc is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers Watch and Buy. Nielsen's Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services across all devices where content — video, audio and text — is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry's only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen provides its clients with both world-class measurement as well as analytics that help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries that cover more than 90 percent of the world's population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

ABOUT DON MISCHER PRODUCTIONS:
Don Mischer Productions (DMP) is an internationally acclaimed and universally respected production firm for television and live events. Led by Don Mischer, Charlie Haykel and Juliane Hare, DMP has consistently produced programs that share the best of the human experience, whether it be the work of our most acclaimed artists or the celebration of our most cherished monuments and greatest international events. DMP is always at the forefront of their craft, with an eye to innovate and advance the art form.

Some of their marquee productions include We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial; Super Bowl halftime shows (Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, among others); the 83rd, 84th and 85th Academy Awards; Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories That Changed America; the Opening Ceremonies of both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games; 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, the Billboard Awards, and the Kennedy Center Honors. Other productions also include the groundbreaking Breakthrough Prize and specials with Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Bono, Prince, Rihanna, Stevie Wonder and Barbra Streisand, among others.

ABOUT BILLBOARD MEDIA GROUP:
Billboard is the world's largest voice in music, built on the most complete and well-respected database of charts across all music genres. The Billboard charts define success in music. From the iconic Billboard magazine to Billboard.com, the ultimate consumer-facing destination for millions of passionate music fans, to the industry's most elite conference series and influencer events including the Power 100 and Women in Music – the Billboard brand has unmatched authority among fans, artists and the industry alike. Billboard has a social media footprint of 25.5M+ million social followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and creates more than 160M+ cross-platform video views per month. Billboard magazine has published major news-generating covers recently including Travis Scott, Zayn, Janet Jackson, Lil Wayne, Demi Lovato, Cardi B, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, DJ Khaled, Shakira, BTS, and an open letter to Congress signed by 180+ of the music industry's biggest stars and executives. In December 2017, the Billboard Women in Music ceremony, which honored Selena Gomez as Woman of the Year, was live-streamed globally on Twitter.

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group acquired Spin Media's storied music assets Spin, Vibe, and Stereogum, establishing the world's largest music brand by digital traffic, social reach, and audience share. The combined entity of music and entertainment properties now reaches 41 Million + unique visitors and more than 20% of U.S. millennials.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Billboard

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