Megan Thee Stallion performs at the Superbloom Festival in Munich in September 2022. Ebony named her among its 2026 Power 100 Music Innovators. (Valerie Albert/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Jay-Z, Megan Thee Stallion and T.I. are among the music names on Ebony’s 2026 Power 100, while some of the other best-known musicians on the list landed in categories that have little to do with chart position.
Ebony unveiled this year’s list Monday, naming the three Music Innovators alongside Gamma co-founder and CEO Larry Jackson and HarbourView Equity Partners founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke.
The rest of the music crowd is scattered across the list.
Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz were named Artists in Residence. Common and Vic Mensa are Community Crusaders. Questlove is an Entertainment Powerhouse.
For readers who first knew those names from radio, CDs and music television, the categories come with some interesting job changes.
Ebony unveiled its 2026 Power 100 list Oct. 5, honoring figures across music, entertainment, business, sports, media, technology and community leadership. (EBONY Media Group/PR Newswire)
Ebony identifies Jay-Z as an entrepreneur and founder of Roc Nation. T.I. gets both rapper and entrepreneur. Questlove is listed as a musician, filmmaker and author. Common is identified as a rapper, actor and activist.
Megan Thee Stallion gets the simplest description of the group: Grammy-winning rapper.
The list is broader than music. Debbie Allen and novelist Colson Whitehead join Keys and Swizz Beatz among the Artists in Residence. Keke Palmer and filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood are Entertainment Powerhouses alongside Questlove.
Naomi Osaka and WNBA Players Association President Nneka Ogwumike are among the Leaders in Sports. So are five New York Knicks players: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama appears in Generation Next, while streamer iShowSpeed is among the Influential Creators.
See the complete 2026 Ebony Power 100
Ebony's full list includes honorees across music, entertainment, business, sports, media, technology and community leadership.
Ebony’s 2026 theme is “The Stories We Shape,” with the publication putting an emphasis on who gets to tell and control stories about Black life and culture.
“The Power 100 has always documented the people moving our culture forward,” Ebony CEO Eden Bridgeman said in announcing the list.
The 2026 Power 100 spans 10 categories.
The honorees will be celebrated Nov. 9 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The event is being produced with Jesse Collins Entertainment, whose credits include the BET Awards, Emmy Awards and multiple Super Bowl halftime shows.
Freddie Jackson appears during a 2019 interview on "Sister Circle Live." The R&B singer, whose hits included "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" and "You Are My Lady," died Monday at 70. (Sister Circle TV via screenshot)
Freddie Jackson, whose unmistakable voice and string of chart-topping love songs made him one of R&B's biggest stars of the 1980s, has died. He was 70.
Jackson died Monday, three days after his birthday, his family announced Tuesday on his official Instagram account. No cause of death was disclosed.
The Harlem-born singer ruled R&B radio with hits including “Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake),” “You Are My Lady,” “Tasty Love” and “Have You Ever Loved Somebody,” collecting 10 No. 1 singles on Billboard's R&B chart and two platinum albums along the way.
His family remembered him as a “kind, generous soul” and thanked the listeners who had supported his music and performances over the decades.
His 1985 Capitol Records debut, Rock Me Tonight, produced four Top 10 R&B singles. The title track spent six weeks at No. 1, while “You Are My Lady” became his biggest crossover hit, introducing him to pop audiences without sacrificing the sound that had made him a favorite on Black radio.
Freddie Jackson performs "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)," his 1985 breakthrough hit. (Capitol Records/YouTube)
His follow-up, 1986's Just Like the First Time, kept the hits coming. “Tasty Love,” “Have You Ever Loved Somebody” and “Jam Tonight” all topped the R&B chart, establishing Jackson as much more than a balladeer.
He also reached No. 1 with “A Little Bit More,” a duet with Melba Moore, and continued his run of hits into the 1990s.
Jackson's commercial success placed him among the leading male R&B singers of a period dominated by artists including Luther Vandross. But it also reflected the power of Black radio, where an artist could build a major career without achieving comparable success on the pop charts.
Jackson was keenly aware of that distinction.
In a 1988 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he discussed the pressure on Black performers to change their music in pursuit of crossover success.
“Crossover is just icing on the cake,” he told the newspaper.
Freddie Jackson performs "You Are My Lady," one of his signature R&B hits. (Capitol Records/YouTube)He was equally clear about changing musical tastes. As Keith Sweat and Al B. Sure! helped usher in a more hip-hop-influenced era of R&B, Jackson told Billboard in 1988 that he respected the emerging sound but intended to remain rooted in the traditional soul music his audience expected.
The approach continued to pay off. His third album, Don't Let Love Slip Away, produced more R&B hits, including “Hey Lover” and “Nice 'n' Slow.” The title track from his 1990 album Do Me Again also reached No. 1.
His cultural footprint stretched beyond the charts. In 2000, Big Boi name-checked Jackson and Teddy Pendergrass in OutKast's “So Fresh, So Clean,” placing two generations of soul singers in the middle of a hip-hop classic.
Born Oct. 2, 1956, Jackson began singing gospel at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church, where he met future producer and songwriter Paul Laurence. After working New York clubs and singing with the group Mystic Merlin, he recorded demos and sang backup for Moore before launching his solo career.
His breakthrough earned two Grammy nominations in 1986: best new artist and best male R&B vocal performance for “You Are My Lady.”
Jackson continued recording long after his chart dominance faded, releasing music independently and returning in 2023 with My First Love.
In 2024, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with kidney disease and partnered with the National Kidney Foundation to promote awareness. His family has not linked the illness to his death.
The family said details of memorial arrangements and opportunities for fans to honor Jackson would be announced later.
Chris Brown performs at Jamaica National Stadium on Aug. 27, 2023. Brown is disputing harassment allegations made by Diamond Brown, the mother of his daughter Lovely, in an ongoing custody and child-support case. (Pelpa Time Production via Wikimedia Commons)
Chris Brown and the mother of his 4-year-old daughter are offering sharply different accounts of why the singer has gone months without seeing the child as their custody dispute expands to include allegations of threats, harassment and a request for at least $30,000 a month in child support.
Diamond Brown alleges in an Oct. 1 court declaration that Chris Brown threatened men she dated after their relationship ended and has harassed her both privately and on social media.
The singer denies the allegations.
He responded Monday on Instagram, accusing Diamond Brown of preventing him from seeing their daughter, Lovely Symphani Brown, while presenting what he called a “false narrative” to the court.
“I JUST WANNA SEE LOVELY!” Brown wrote in one of several posts responding to the allegations.
The dispute exposes directly conflicting accounts of the singer’s absence from his daughter’s life in recent months.
Diamond Brown alleges Chris Brown has not asked to see Lovely in six or seven months and has been uninterested in her attempts to arrange time between them, according to the declaration obtained by USA Today.
Chris Brown says the opposite.
“I HAVEN’T SEEN MY DAUGHTER IN 7 months,” he wrote Monday, accusing Diamond of not allowing him to spend time with Lovely.
Neither version has been established by the court.
Diamond Brown filed the Los Angeles case April 3, seeking legal and physical custody of Lovely while proposing visitation for Chris Brown. Her filing said the singer had previously acknowledged paternity through a voluntary declaration.
Chris Brown responded by asking for joint legal and physical custody.
Lovely was born Jan. 7, 2022.
Instagram Story screenshot
A CLOSER LOOK: In this screenshot from Instagram Stories, Chris Brown responds Monday to allegations made by Diamond Brown in an ongoing custody and child-support dispute involving their daughter, Lovely. (Chris Brown/Instagram Stories via screenshot)
The case has since widened beyond custody.
In her new declaration, Diamond Brown alleges the singer became angry when she began dating other men after their relationship ended about two years ago.
She alleges he made death threats against her most recent boyfriend and threatened the man’s twin brother. She also alleges third parties made threats and that similar conduct by Brown contributed to the end of an earlier relationship.
No court has ruled that those allegations occurred.
Diamond Brown also describes Brown’s behavior toward her as frightening and alleges he recently became angry with her in front of Lovely at a birthday party.
She says her attorney has asked Brown’s attorney since March to have him stop the alleged conduct.
According to TMZ, an email attributed to Brown’s attorney denied the allegations and asked Diamond Brown’s legal team for specific incidents that could be addressed.
Diamond Brown says in the declaration that she has tried to avoid seeking a domestic violence restraining order.
She is not requesting one in the current filing.
“I feel that I have been living under siege,” she wrote, according to USA Today.
Money has become another major point of contention.
Diamond Brown says Chris Brown agreed to pay $7,000 a month but alleges he sometimes deducts money from that amount. She is now asking the court for at least $30,000 a month in child support, along with full payment of certain additional expenses for Lovely, including medical costs, insurance, school tuition and extracurricular activities.
She is also seeking $350,000 in attorney and accounting fees.
Diamond Brown reports earning about $1,500 a month as a social media influencer and esthetician and contends that Chris Brown has not turned over financial records she says are necessary to determine support.
She estimates his net worth at more than $50 million but acknowledges in the filing that his actual income remains unknown, according to USA Today.
A separate income-and-expense declaration reported by TMZ lists Diamond Brown’s current monthly expenses at about $8,400 and proposed expenses exceeding $45,000.
That figure is not her requested monthly child-support payment.
Chris Brown disputes her characterization of what he provides.
He said Monday that he pays for two vehicles, her housing and Lovely’s schooling and medical expenses in addition to $10,000 a month.
“There is no 50/50 co parenting,” Brown wrote. “I LITERALLY PAY FOR EVERYTHING.”
The singer said those payments are documented and accused Diamond Brown of trying to provoke him into giving her material to use in court.
Diamond Brown, meanwhile, argues that the support being provided is insufficient for their daughter and alleges Brown has delayed efforts to obtain financial information in the case.
