RAYE is nominated for best music film at the 2026 Grammy Awards, but the night before the ceremony, she’ll receive a special merit award from the Recording Academy – for a song released in 2023.
RAYE will receive the Harry Belafonte Award for best song for social change for her song “Ice Cream Man.,” which appears on her debut album, My 21st Century Blues. The award was established in 2022 to honor writers who create “message-driven music that speaks to the social issues of our time,” according to the Academy.
“Ice Cream Man.” is a harrowing song about the guilt and PTSD that the narrator experiences following a sexual assault by a music producer. RAYE sings, “Coming like the ice cream man/ Till I felt his ice-cold hands/ And how I pay the pricе now, damn… / Everything you did, it left mе in a ruin/ And no, I didn’t say a word.”
RAYE co-wrote the song with Michael Tucker and Mike Sabath, who will be honored alongside her. RAYE and Sabath also wrote her current hit, “Where Is My Husband!”
In a statement, Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said, “This song is a powerful reminder of music’s unique ability to raise awareness, inspire change and provide a voice to those too often unheard.”
RAYE will receive the award Jan. 31 at LA’s Wilshire Ebell Theatre. That evening, other Grammy merit honors – including Lifetime Achievement and Trustees Awards – will be presented to artists such as Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, Cher, the late Whitney Houston and Paul Simon.
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