R&B diva Mary J. Blige kicked off the 2011 BET Awards with a performance medley of her songs “Mary Jane” and “Real Love” before being joined on the stage by the legendary Anita Baker on “Caught Up in the Rapture.” The 40-year-old singer ended her set by debuting the song “It Ain’t Over” featuring rappers Jadakiss and DJ Khaled.

Check out the pics and the footage from the performance below:

The 2010 Soul Train Awards honored the career of legendary R&B singer Anita Baker with tribute performances by Chrisette Michele, Goapele, Tamia, Faith Evans, El DeBarge and more during the show. The Soul Train Awards, recorded earlier this month in Atlanta, aired Sunday night (Nov 28) on BET. Check out pics and video footage from the Anita Baker tribute performances below…

The 2010 Soul Train Awards were held Wednesday night (Nov 10) in Atlanta Georgia, and Black Star Power was in full effect on the purple carpet!

Faith Evans, Chilli (and her new man?), Ginuwine & his wife Sole, Chrisette Michele, hosts Terrence Howard & Taraji P. Henson, Eric Benet, Bobby Valentino, Jeremih, Rick Ross, DJ Khaled and more walked down the purple carpet and posed for pics before making their way into Atlanta’s Cobb Energy Center for the show, presented by BET and Centric.

Check out 25+ pictures from the Soul Train Awards red carpet below!!

The 2010 Soul Train Awards are set to air on TV on November 28th. Check your local listings for details…

The 2010 BET Awards went down Sunday night (Jun 27) live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and the red carpet was full of black star power as celebrities like Ciara, T.I. (who brought along his entire family), Keri Hilson, Nick Cannon, John Legend, Diddy, Carmelo & Lala, Nicki Minaj, Brandy, the Black Eyed Peas and more arrived in style at the 10th annual show.

Check out 40+ pictures from the BET Awards’ red carpet below and when you continue reading…

R&B legend Anita Baker sang her own rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” Thursday night (Jun 10) before the beginning of the Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals Game 4… and it wasn’t all that great! Baker struggled through several notes during the performance and even sounded like a dying cat at one point.

We still love you Anita Baker! Just don’t do this song ever again. (you either Whitney!)

Check out Anita Baker’s performance below…

Rapper Snoop Dogg took the stage at the Kandy Vegas lingerie party at the Palms Casino Resort Sunday (Jul 26) in Las Vegas.

In related news, Grammy Award winning soul singer Anita Baker has tapped the Doggfather for a collaboration for her upcoming Live DVD Project. She told Billboard that Snoop is working on an adaptation of Curtis Mayfield’s “Give Me Your Love (Love Song).”

“It’s lovely — who knew that Snoop is madly in love with his wife, you know? We’ve got a chance to see that in the way his music has grown, so when he comes in to do dialogue over that love theme, it becomes very grown up and contemporary at the same time.”

SOURCE: SR

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

Singers Monica and Maxwell stopped for a photo backstage during the BET Networks’ 2009 Upfront media presentation, where they announced 4 brand new shows in addition to a new entertainment and music channel called CENTRIC. The presentation, held at the Nokia Theatre in New York Thursday night, featured special appearances by Mary J. Blige, Mo’Nique, MC Lyte and more.

According to several announcements made at the event, Monica will be getting her own “docu-drama” (aka reality series) titled Monica: Still Standing and Mo’Nique has her own nightly talk/variety show. No word on when the new shows will be premiering yet, but continue reading for more photos from the media event.

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES / FREDDY O

Actor/singer (and sometimes rapper) Tyrese celebrated his 30th birthday was a private party in Los Angeles’ Boulevard 3 last week. Folks like Akon, New York, Tank, Heavy D and more all showed up to party. Continue reading for more flicks!

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE