Soul Train Awards Tape Nov. 5 in Chicago, Air Nov. 27 on BET and CBS: What to Know

The 2026 Soul Train Awards tape on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at the Harris Theater in Chicago, according to The TRiiBE. Viewers at home will not see the show until Friday, Nov. 27, when it airs at 8 p.m. ET on BET and, for the first time, CBS, per REVOLT. Anthony Anderson hosts. It is the first Soul Train Awards since 2023.

The headline race this year is decided by fans. Chris Brown and Bryson Tiller's "It Depends," Kehlani's "Folded" and Brent Faiyaz's "butterflies" are among 10 songs nominated for the new R&B/Soul Song of the Year award. Voting closed Oct. 16. BET has not announced a winner.

What we know

• Taping: Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at the Harris Theater in Chicago (The TRiiBE).
• Broadcast: Friday, Nov. 27, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) on BET, with a simulcast on CBS, VH1, MTV2, Logo and BET Her (REVOLT, The TRiiBE).
• Host: Anthony Anderson. In BET's announcement, quoted by REVOLT, he called Soul Train "a piece of our cultural history."
• R&B/Soul Song of the Year nominees, as listed by REVOLT:
• Brent Faiyaz, "butterflies"
• Bruno Mars, "I Just Might"
• Chris Brown and Bryson Tiller, "It Depends"
• Daniel Caesar, "Who Knows"
• Justin Bieber, "YUKON"
• Kehlani, "Folded"
• Mariah the Scientist and Kali Uchis, "Is It a Crime"
• Olivia Dean, "Man I Need"
• Tems, "What You Need"
• Tyla, "Chanel"
• How it was picked: BET opened fan voting on its website on Oct. 5, and it ran through Oct. 16 (REVOLT).
• Second fan-voted award: Spotify's RNB X International Artist, voted in the Spotify app. Nominees include Tems, PARTYNEXTDOOR, FLO, Cleo Sol and Odeal (The TRiiBE). That puts Tems in both fan-voted races.
• Red carpet: The pre-show, "Back on Track," streams on YouTube and Facebook. It will reveal a fan-ranked list of the 20 Greatest R&B Songs of the 2020s, chosen from a pool of 64 songs (The TRiiBE).
• Behind the show: Jesse Collins Entertainment produces, Spotify is the exclusive music streaming partner and Toyota is the automotive partner (TheWrap).

Context

The move to Chicago is a homecoming. "Soul Train" premiered on Chicago's WCIU-TV on Aug. 17, 1970, as a live weekday afternoon show, and the awards first aired in 1987 from Santa Monica, hosted by Luther Vandross and Dionne Warwick, The TRiiBE reports.

The show has been off the air for three years. The last edition aired in 2023 with Keke Palmer hosting, and SZA won the most awards that night. In 2025, BET's then-CEO Scott Mills told Billboard the network had suspended both the Soul Train Awards and the BET Hip-Hop Awards, TheWrap reported. BET's Connie Orlando, the show's executive producer, has said the 2026 edition uses a new format.

For the rap and R&B crowd, the song race is the one to watch. It puts Chris Brown, Kehlani, Brent Faiyaz, Bieber and Bruno Mars on one ballot, with fans, not a voting academy, picking the winner. REVOLT pointed out that Mars already caught pushback online after "I Just Might" won Best R&B at the VMAs instead of landing in a pop category, so a win here could reopen that argument.

What's unconfirmed

• Winners. The show is taped on Nov. 5 but does not air until Nov. 27. BET has not published results or fan-vote totals. Treat any "winners list" that circulates before the broadcast as unverified until BET posts it.
• The air date in early reports. TheWrap's Sept. 3 report listed the air date as "Friday, Nov. 26," but Nov. 26, 2026, falls on a Thursday. Later reports from REVOLT and The TRiiBE give Friday, Nov. 27, and that is the date we use.
• Red carpet timing. The TRiiBE did not give a start time for the "Back on Track" stream.

Your pick for R&B/Soul Song of the Year: "Folded," "It Depends" or "butterflies"?