Jawn Murray Returns to Host the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame, Where Legacy Gets the Main Stage

Jawn Murray

Jawn Murray Returns to Host the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame, Where Legacy Gets the Main Stage

Some hosts read the room, and then there are hosts who understand the assignment, the history, the music, and the aunties in the front row.

Jawn Murray appears to be very much in the second category.

The NAACP Image Award-winning producer, television personality, and longtime champion of African American music and culture will return for his fifth consecutive year as host of the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame induction ceremony, taking place Saturday, July 25, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the Andrew J. Brady Music Center in Cincinnati.

This year’s ceremony will honor the iconic R&B and disco group Heatwave, whose grooves helped define an era, along with pioneering Cincinnati radio station WCIN, a cornerstone institution in the city’s African American cultural and media history. Grammy Award-winning R&B legend Regina Belle will receive the Legacy Award, while additional industry figures will be recognized as Top Influencers.

For Murray, the assignment is clearly more than a hosting gig. It is part ceremony, part reunion, part cultural stewardship.

“The Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame is literally one of my favorite events to host each year,” Murray said. “Not just because thousands of people from Cincy and all over the Midwest show up and are the most gracious audience, but I truly believe in the importance of this cultural installation in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, and I’m always honored when Commissioner Alicia Reece invites me back.”

That relationship has become part of the Walk’s own developing story. Murray first hosted the event five years ago and has since become a familiar and beloved presence at the annual celebration, bringing with him not only polish and timing, but a deep fluency in the music, memory, and community the Walk was created to honor.

“We are so excited to have Jawn back at our 6th Annual Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame induction ceremony because he’s more than just our host, but he’s someone our attendees look forward to seeing each year,” said Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece, founder of the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame. “Jawn has become part of the Walk of Fame family, and last year we were excited to make him an honorary inductee.”

That surprise came during the 2025 ceremony, when Reece honored Murray in the Top Influencer section of the Walk of Fame for his advocacy for Black music and his work expanding the monument’s national visibility. Murray had previously visited the Walk with talk-show host Sherri Shepherd during a 2023 Cincinnati appearance, later helping showcase it on a season two episode of The Sherri Shepherd Show.

The 2026 ceremony will also feature performances by previous Walk of Fame inductees Shirley Murdock and Midnight Star, ensuring the morning will not simply honor history, but let it sing back.

The Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame was created to recognize the artists, musicians, executives, broadcasters, and cultural figures whose contributions shaped Cincinnati and traveled far beyond it. Previous inductees include The Isley Brothers, Nancy Wilson, Bootsy Collins, Dottie Peoples, James Brown, Penny Ford, The O’Jays, Hi-Tek, Randy Crawford, and Donald Lawrence.

As for Murray, his own résumé makes his return feel fitting. He helped develop, launch, and oversee the nationally syndicated Sherri show hosted by Sherri Shepherd, earning a NAACP Image Award, multiple Telly Awards, and a Daytime Emmy nomination as executive producer. He also appeared on-air for three seasons as Shepherd’s sidekick and comedic counterpart, after years as a television host, cultural commentator, documentary expert, and radio personality on The Tom Joyner Morning Show.

In other words, Cincinnati is not just getting an emcee. It is getting someone who knows how to hold a microphone in one hand and a legacy in the other.

For more information, visit JawnMurray.com and https://www.cincyblackmusicwalkoffame.org/