Ariana Grande and Idina Menzel will be among the honorees at the 2014 Billboard Women in Music Awards. The talented singers will join Taylor Swift among many other recipients at the lunchtime event today, Dec. 12th in New York City.
Grande will be honored with the 2014 Billboard Rising Star award, an honor previously bestowed upon
Lady Gaga,
Nicki Minaj and Janelle Mona. Menzel will be the recipient of the Breakthrough Artist of the Year award, a brand new honor added to the ceremony now in its ninth year.
Commented Grande, "To be recognized alongside some of the most influential women in the music business is such an incredible honor. Receiving the 'Rising Star' award is truly amazing and I'm extremely grateful!"
Added Janice Min, co-president and chief creative officer of Guggenheim Media's Entertainment Group, which consists of Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, "In a watershed year for female recording talent,
Ariana Grande has managed to make an indelible mark as a young artist. We're so pleased to award Ariana our Rising Star accolade for 2014, and anxiously await what comes next."
Tony Award-winner Menzel, who lent her voice to 'Elsa' in Disney's animated mega hit FROZEN, made history by becoming the first singer to have a Billboard Top 10 hit and a Tony Award for acting.
Said the Broadway star, "I'm so honored to receive the Breakthrough Artist Award from Billboard. This has definitely been an amazing breakthrough year and I'm thrilled and humbled by it all, including this wonderful award."
Added Min, "For Idina Menzel, who has influenced the charts for decades, 2014 was an utterly remarkable year by any measure. We are so proud to be able to give the Breakthrough Artist of the Year award to someone who so richly deserves it, and continues to both surprise and profoundly shape the industry."
Menzel currently stars in the new original Broadway musical IF/THEN. Her all-new Christmas album
Holiday Wishes, which dropped earlier this year, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's
Holiday Albums chart.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride
