Love, Peace & Soul Returns: BET Revives the Soul Train Awards for 2026 With Historic CBS Debut

Somewhere up above, Don Cornelius just might be saying, “Love, Peace & Soul” all over again.

The Soul Train Awards are officially returning in 2026, marking the comeback of one of the most important celebrations of R&B, soul music and Black culture after a three-year hiatus.

BET is bringing the iconic awards show back on Friday, November 27 at 8 p.m. ET, and this year’s return comes with a major expansion: for the first time, the Soul Train Awards will also air on CBS.

The 2026 ceremony will additionally air across VH1, MTV2, Logo and BET Her, giving the revived show a much larger television footprint as it begins its next chapter. But perhaps the most meaningful part of the comeback is where it’s happening.

The Soul Train Awards will tape in Chicago, bringing the franchise back to the city where Don Cornelius first launched Soul Train in 1971. What started as a local music and dance program would eventually become a nationally syndicated cultural institution, introducing generations of viewers to some of the biggest names in R&B, soul, funk, hip-hop and beyond.

BET President Louis Carr, himself a Chicago native, described bringing the awards back to the city as a full-circle moment while emphasizing the network’s mission of connecting the artists who helped build the culture with those carrying it forward.

The network says the 2026 Soul Train Awards will be reimagined with a bold new format, honoring the legends who helped define R&B and soul while creating space for the new generation shaping where the music goes next. That balance could be exactly what the Soul Train Awards need.

The ceremony last aired in 2023 with Keke Palmer serving as host. BET later confirmed that both the Soul Train Awards and BET Hip Hop Awards had been suspended as the company reconsidered how its signature award shows could evolve within a rapidly changing media landscape.

Now, Soul Train gets another ride. Jesse Collins Entertainment returns to produce the ceremony, with Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay serving as executive producers alongside BET’s Connie Orlando.

The comeback is already attracting major corporate support as well. Spotify has signed on as the exclusive music streaming partner, while Toyota will serve as a key sponsor for the revived ceremony.

Performers, honorees and the 2026 host have yet to be announced, but BET says additional details will be revealed in the coming weeks. For more than five decades, the words “Soul Train” have represented something much bigger than a television show. They represent a stage where Black music, fashion, dance and creativity were allowed to exist unapologetically—and where artists could become part of cultural history.

Now, more than 50 years after Don Cornelius first put that train in motion, it’s heading back home to Chicago.

Love. Peace. And Soul.

The Prince Report