MTV will honor Shakira with the Video Vanguard Award during the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 12 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the network announced Monday.

The Colombian-born singer and songwriter will be the first South American artist to receive the lifetime achievement honor established in 1984 for music artists and music video directors. Shakira is the second Latina to be given the award. Bronx native Jennifer Lopez — who is of Puerto Rican heritage — was honored in 2018.

Since Kanye West took home the prestigious trophy in 2015, only women have been selected as Video Vanguard Award recipients: Rihanna (2016), P!nk (2017), Lopez (2018), Missy Elliott (2019) and Nicki Minaj (2022).

There was no award given in 2020-21 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, will also perform at the ceremony, marking her first time on the VMA stage in 17 years.

It’s perfect timing for the “Hips Don’t Lie” belter, who’s fresh off the heels of two back-to-back top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. In January, the Bizarrap collaboration “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” made her the first female vocalist to reach the top 10 with a Spanish-language track when it peaked at No. 9. Two months later, a pairing with fellow Colombian Karol G, “TQG.” made it to the No. 7 spot in the chart.

Karol G, Demi Lovato, Måneskin and K-pop group Stray Kids were previously announced as performers.

The 2023 show marks the 40th annual edition of the VMAs, which celebrate the top music videos and popular music artists of the year.

A host has yet to be announced for this year’s ceremony.

The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards are set to air live on Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET.

———

LOS ANGELES — “Saturday Night Live” star Heidi Gardner will be among several entertainers expected to take part in a virtual tailgate and concert experience before the NFL’s kickoff game in Kansas City next month.

The show dubbed as the “World’s Largest Tailgate” looks to celebrate the start of the football season as the Super Bowl defending champion Chiefs host the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7, the team announced Monday. The event will be held live outside GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Along with Gardner’s appearances during segments, the 90-minute show will be hosted by YouTube stars the Merrell Twins along with performances from DJ-producer duo Two Friends. The show will also feature internet personality Tabitha Swatosh and Donna Kelce, the mother of Chiefs star Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles.

“Chiefs Kingdom is wherever you are, and the World’s Largest Tailgate is one way we can unite people in Kansas City, around the country and throughout the world around the fact that NFL football is back in a big way,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said in a statement. The virtual seats can be reserved online.

Donovan said the Chiefs are proud of their team and tailgate culture with the hopes of creating a “unique music and entertainment experience.”

———

Author and TV show host Baratunde Thurston discovered nature amidst the concrete and steel of the nation's capital. “I was born in Washington, D.C., in 1977, very much a city kid who lived close enough to a park to have easy access to it,” he recalls.

But if it hadn’t been for his mother, he never would have pursued nature.

“My mom was a computer programmer, also the hippiest, crunchiest person you’d ever meet. She was into tofu before anybody, yoga before anybody, community gardens. She put me to work in the community garden. She called it an ‘activity,’ but it was labor,” he smiles.

“And I helped feed the family. She was a Sierra Club member, and we went on hikes and camping trips, and I know now with hindsight my mother was trying to keep me alive.”

Baratunde’s father had been killed in a drug deal when the boy was 6.

“Every moment I was in a park or in the woods or on a camping trip or on a boat, I wasn’t on the street,” he says.

“I wasn’t having the negative peer pressure of crack cocaine and all the stuff going on in the ’80s in D.C. And there was a spiritual element to it for her where it was a peaceful place, a place to heal; my mom had a lot to heal from."

Thurston’s bonding with nature has spun into a PBS TV show, “America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston,” arriving for Season 2 on Sept. 6. It seems a perfect gig for the 45-year-old as he treks across the U.S. exploring how Americans interact with nature and with each other.

Among his contacts this season is Dan Devereaux, an oyster farmer from Maine, Lisa Gilbert, mayor of a small town in Arkansas, and Kayle Brown, a sharp shooter silver medalist.

“This show has been a great chance to return to my childhood in many ways, but with a smidgen of wisdom,” he says.

Thurston’s happy wanderings transport him to dangerous places as well, like swimming the icy waters of Maine or encountering unlikely companions like alligators in Florida.

“The gators ... they didn’t scare me, maybe because no one around me was afraid either,” he says.