Billboard‘s Women In Music 2023 was held in Los Angeles last night, March 1. The annual event was hosted by Quinta Brunson and, as the title suggests, celebrated the impact of several powerful women in music.
SZA took home Woman Of The Year, Olivia Rodrigo presented Lana Del Rey with the Visionary Award, and Bad Bunny even showed up to present Ivy Queen the Icon Award.
But it wouldn’t be an awards show without performances.
Kim Petras, the Chartbreaker Award recipient, kicked the evening off with an atmospheric rendition of her January single “Brrr.”
Kim petras just casually killing it In Front of a room full of legends oh yes pic.twitter.com/YQIsHJxiWQ
— 𝒞. (@Celebirteas) March 2, 2023
Roughly 20 minutes later, Doechii’s mother, Celesia Moore, introduced her as this year’s Rising Star before she took the stage to deliver a dynamic performance of “Persuasive.” (Doechii also teased “new music” is on the way earlier in the day.)
(@doechii)Lainey Wilson, this year’s Rulebreaker Award winner, was up next around the 37-minute mark, and she allowed everyone to catch their breath from Doechii with the ballad “Heart Like A Truck.”
After Ivy Queen and SZA were honored with their respective awards — complete with a video message from Lizzo, who sang her “favorite SZA song” “Warm Winds” and called her friend “the real deal” — Chlöe hyped up Latto as the Powerhouse Award winner.
Chlöe ran through how overwhelmingly successful “Big Energy” has been for Latto and expressed how Latto “has been there for advice … but even more special, she has openly shared her sisterhood with me.”
She continued, “It can be difficult as a young woman to find your own confidence. I struggle with that every day. But just put any Latto record on, and it is hard not to feel like a boss. She is the personification of a powerhouse.”
And Latto backed up Chlöe’s words with a, well, powerful staging of her latest single, “Lottery.”
Becky G later brought”Mamiii” to the stage after she was presented the American Express Impact Award by Dove Cameron, and TWICE capped off the night with a soaring performance of “Moonlight Sunrise.”
Watch performances from Petras, Doechii, Latto and Becky G below, or stream the entire Billboard Women In Music event above.
Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.