Missy Elliott to receive Icon Award from Janet Jackson at Gala of the Stars

Missy Elliott will receive the Icon Award at this year's Gala of the Stars, the annual benefit for Dancers Against Cancer, presented by last year's honoree, Janet Jackson. The gala takes place on 22 October at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, according to Billboard.

A four-time Grammy winner, Elliott was the first female rapper to receive the MTV Video Music Awards' Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, the first female hip-hop artist inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the first female rapper inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She has 10 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and five top 10 albums on the Billboard 200.

The evening will also honor dancer-choreographer Toni Basil, known for “Mickey”, with the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anita Mann, and director-choreographer Vincent Paterson with the Vanguard Award. Paula Abdul returns to present the Paula Abdul Legacy Award, with the recipient still to be named. Maksim Chmerkovskiy hosts again, Chloé Arnold's Syncopated Ladies will perform a tap routine to Abdul's “Straight Up”, and Liza Minnelli serves as honorary chair.

Noah Lands, CEO of Dancers Against Cancer, said Elliott represents "everything the Icon Award celebrates." The gala raises money for dancers facing life-threatening illness.

Missy Elliott is an American rapper born in 1971 in Portsmouth, working across hip-hop and contemporary R&B. Her most recent studio album is “The Cookbook”, released in 2005, according to MusicBrainz.