Will Smith to Perform New Song at the 2024 BET Awards

It’s the return of Big Willie.

This Sunday, June 30, Oscar and Grammy-winning superstar Will Smith will hit the stage at the 2024 BET Awards to debut a brand-new song — his first solo material in over five years. The network announced that his special performance will take place live during the awards show, which is hosted by Taraji P. Henson. 

"From his start as a rapper to The Fresh Prince to being a box office king as one of the Bad Boys, Will Smith is truly a global icon, and we are honored to welcome him back to grace the BET Awards stage,” Connie Orlando, EVP Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET, said in a statement. “We look forward to Will adding to yet another defining night for the culture that is not to be missed."

Smith’s performance joins the stacked BET Awards lineup this year, which includes stars like Ice Spice, Tyla, Victoria Monét, GloRilla, Latto, Muni Long, Sexyy Red and Shaboozey. Ms. Lauryn Hill will also perform with her son, YG Marley, while country star Tanner Adell hits the BET Amplified stage.

Details about Smith’s forthcoming song are not yet known, but it’ll mark his first major release since his 2005 album, Lost and Found. He also dropped an EDM single titled “Get Lit” in 2017. Since then, the Bad Boys: Ride or Die actor has only released a handful of musical collaborations with artists like Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony and Joyner Lucas.

The last time Smith performed live was at Coachella 2024 in April when he made a surprise cameo during J Balvin’s UFO-themed set to revive his Men in Black days. To fans’ delight, the rap artist performed the franchise’s title hit (in full costume as Agent J), which served as the lead single off the 1997 soundtrack and featured on his debut album, Big Willie Style.

Recently, in honor of his latest Bad Boys film, Smith teamed up with reggae icon Sean Paul for their soundtrack collaboration “Light Em Up.” As far as new music goes, the I Am Legend 2 star confirmed to Extra that he’s “been in the lab” working on new material for the last year and a half.

“I have a project that is, without question, the most personal and powerful music that I’ve ever made,” Smith shared. “So, you know, I'm going to sneak that out on you in a month or so.”

The 2024 BET Awards air live on the network on Sunday, June 30, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.