Diva Extraordinaire Beyonce Set to Perform Live at ‘BET AWARDS ’09′

Leading the Charge with Five Nominations, Beyonce Returns to Ignite the BET Awards Stage on Sunday, June 28

LOS ANGELES, June 16 /PRNewswire/ — Hold on to your seats! Mega superstar and bona fide diva Beyonce will set the stage ablaze live at the Shrine Auditorium Sunday, June 28 for the BET AWARDS ’09 hosted by Jamie Foxx. Adding to the current lineup of Maxwell, Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Mary Mary, Fabolous, Young Jeezy and Soulja Boy, Beyonce will take a breather from her multi-city “I AM …” tour to perform live in front of millions of viewers.

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Beyonce is known for shutting down the stage with her show-stopping vocals and unforgettable performances, and BET AWARDS ’09 will be no different. Driving fans crazy with drops of her simply made, yet genius music videos of “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” “Diva” and the newly released single “Ego,” Beyonce is solidified as one of the most talented and recognized artists in the game.

“Simply put, we love Beyonce. With her immense talent, boundless energy, total professionalism and class, it’s always an honor to have her grace a BET stage. She’s performed on the BET Awards show more times than any other performer and each of her performances has been memorable. We know that the fire known as Beyonce will again sear the stage on June 28 and leave another indelible mark,” said Stephen Hill, President of Music Programming and Specials, BET Networks.

Since she emerged on the scene in 1997, Beyonce has become one of the most highly respected women in pop culture. A creative genius, she established herself as a founding member and front woman of Destiny’s Child and has developed into an iconic solo artist. Constantly reinventing herself to stay ahead of the curve, Beyonce has earned three consecutive #1 selling solo albums and starred in major blockbuster hits “The Fighting Temptations,” “Cadillac Records,” “Dreamgirls,” and “Obsessed,” which was her third #1 film, following “Austin Powers” and “Pink Panther.”

The BET AWARDS has held the #1 spot as the most watched awards show among African-Americans as outstanding moments by James Brown, Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, The Fugees, Rick James and many others lit up households across America. The BET AWARDS ’09 will premiere at 8:00 p.m.* on Sunday, June 28.

Visit BET.com for BET On Blast video highlights, photos and continuous BET AWARDS ’09 updates at www.bet.com/betawards.

For more information on the “I AM …” tour, go to www.ticketmaster.com/beyonce.

*All times ET/PT

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 98 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET Digital Networks – BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

SOURCE BET Networks