At the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, Diddy won the Global Icon Award. Growing young, Sean Diddy Combs yearned to play football for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead, he rose to fame as a world icon.
As he received the Global Icon Award at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the 53-year-old music tycoon and producer took a trip down memory lane.
Diddy's first performance!
Diddy's Global Icon performance was introduced by the famous Mary J. Blige, who also paid respect to Diddy by referring to him as a big brother and pointing out that his Bad Boy Records label had sold more than 500 million albums worldwide. When he entered the stage, Diddy performed his signature Diddy-bop and sang his 1997 song, I'll Be Missing You. Diddy had previously performed at the VMAs in 2005.
For a few of the songs, including I Need a Girl, It's All About the Benjamins, and Mo Money, Mo Problems, his son King Combs joined him on stage. Diddy was joined on stage by Keyshia Cole and Yung Miami.
A sweet moment with Diddy's daughter!
It was an emotional moment when Mary J. Blige and Chance Combs joined her to award Diddy with the Global Icon Award. Other members of Diddy's family, including his adored mother Janice and his other kids Jessie James, Chance, D'Lila, and Justin Dior Combs, attended the occasion.
In 1997, Diddy debuted at the VMAs to sing Mo Money, Mo Problems. In 2005, he served as the VMAs' host. Diddy has two VMA victories to his credit during his career.
A surreal moment for Diddy!
Diddy said receiving the Global Icon Award was a surreal experience since he grew up watching MTV and dreamed of taking the stage one day. But playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers was his greatest desire. That aspiration was unsuccessful, but soon, another desire surfaced: to succeed as a producer and record executive.
The late Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, 112, Ma$e, Cassie, and many more were on the roster of Bad Boy Records, which Diddy naturally founded in 1993. In typical Diddy fashion, he concluded his speech by hawking his Friday release, The Love Album: Off the Grid. It's his first record since Last Train to Paris from 2010.