Patra to receive Lifetime Achievement Honor at 2026 Caribbean Music Awards

Patra, who is an iconic Jamaican dancehall artiste will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Honor at the fourth annual Caribbean Music Awards. The 2026 Caribbean Music Awards will be held from September 18 to 20, 2026, in Trinidad & Tobago for the first time.

The main award ceremony will be hosted at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port of Spain. The three-day Caribbean Music Awards Elite Weekend Experience will bring together the awards ceremony with other music and cultural events across Trinidad & Tobago.

Patra is being recognised for her contribution to dancehall, reggae and global Black music. She began her career as a DJ known as “Lady Patra” and she later gained international attention through her work with Shabba Ranks. 

Her album titled ‘Queen of the Pack’ became the first album by a Jamaican female artist to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart and was also later certified Gold in the United States.

Three other special honorees will join Patra at this year’s awards. Shyne will be honored with the Global Ambassador Honor. Elite Calypso Honor will be received by Calypso Rose and Alan Cavé, who is a Haitian-American singer-songwriter will receive the Elite Konpa Honor.

More than 250 nominees across more than 40 categories will be featured in this year’s awards. The theme for the 2026 awards is “Sounds of the Caribbean”. Genres like reggae, soca, dancehall, gospel and R&B are covered in the nominations.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Lady Lava has received nine nominations across seven categories. Machel Montano., V'ghn and Ayetian have received seven nominations each and Shenseea and Skillibeng have six.

Several new categories have also been added for the 2026 edition. The new categories include, Konpa Song of the Year, Dennery Artist and Song of the Year, Chutney Soca Artist and Song of the Year, Zess Song of the year, and more.

Trinidadian soca artiste Nailah Blackman and Caribbean-American Majah Hype will be co-hosting the award ceremony. This will be the fourth time consecutively Majah Hype will be hosting the award ceremony. Meanwhile, Blackman will be appearing as a host after previously being at the awards as a fan, performer, nominee and winner.

The Elite Weekend Experience will begin on September 18 and will include a welcome reception, industry programming and other cultural activities. The awards ceremony, red carpet, pre-show and official after-party will take place on September 19. A special steelpan celebration featuring Stars & Steel Pan Concert & Awards will also follow after this on September 20.

The first three awards were held at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York. 

Tourism Trinidad Limited is presenting this year’s edition. Support from the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited, the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism, and Global Trinidad and Tobago will also be provided.