Alicia Keys took the stage at Delilah in Los Angeles this week with a simple but resonant message: when you have a seat at the table, make room for someone else.

The global superstar and co-founder of She Is The Music (SITM) was on hand for the second annual Women Sharing the Spotlight event, an evening dedicated to celebrating women in music — and, just as importantly, the women they choose to lift up alongside them.

This year’s honorees included multi-platinum country hitmaker Megan Moroney and legendary music executive Sylvia Rhone, both recognized not only for their individual accomplishments but for the ways they’ve opened doors for others.

“Tonight’s event is about being able to say wait, I do have this position and I can open the door,” Keys told the room. “It’s one thing when you’re banging on a door to be let in, and it’s another thing when someone opens the door and says, ‘come in and join me.’”

Introducing Moroney as the evening’s Artist Spotlight, Keys praised the singer and her team for “breaking new ground with achievements in an industry where female-led teams are still the exception rather than the norm.”

Moroney, visibly moved, used her acceptance remarks to challenge a long-standing narrative of scarcity among women in the business. “I think sometimes we’re taught — subtly or not — that there’s only room for a few women at the top,” she said. “But music and creating art isn’t a competition for oxygen. I’m positive that when one of us wins, it stretches the ceiling higher for the next girl watching.”

Later in the program, Universal Music Publishing Group Chairman and CEO Jody Gerson introduced Rhone as the 2026 Trailblazer honoree, crediting her with reshaping the industry from the inside out.

“She earned her seat at the table and then she made sure that table got bigger,” Gerson said. “She has worked tirelessly to keep that glass ceiling broken and to ensure the path that she forged remains open and clear for the women coming up behind her.”

Rhone, a towering figure in the business for decades, deflected the notion of blazing a trail alone. “The truth is, none of us cleared a path alone,” she said. “We pushed. We nudged. We reached back. We whispered to one another to pull up a chair. And somewhere along the way, the trail became a road. And now it feels more like a gathering place.”

She also struck an optimistic tone about the future of music. “Creativity adapts, and women — especially women — innovate under pressure,” Rhone said. “As I look around this room, I’m not anxious about the future of our industry. At all. I’m energized by it. Music is in very good hands.”

Co-founded by Keys, Gerson, GRAMMY-nominated engineer Ann Mincieli and UTA co-Head of Music Sam Kirby Yoh, She Is The Music is dedicated to increasing the number of women working across all facets of the music industry. The Women Sharing the Spotlight event embodies that mission by asking each honoree to shine a light on another woman whose work deserves recognition.

The evening also celebrated dozens of influential women across genres and roles, from artists and songwriters to executives and engineers, including Diane Warren, Bishop Briggs, Tayla Parx, Lucy Dickins and many more — a reflection of the broad and growing network of women shaping today’s music landscape.

The 2026 event was made possible with support from Spotify EQUAL, Live Nation Women and TuneCore, with The Hollywood Reporter serving as the exclusive media partner.

If the tone of the night was any indication, Women Sharing the Spotlight is less about a single moment of recognition and more about momentum — a collective commitment to opening doors wider than they were found.

https://sheisthemusic.org

Author: Andrew Braithwaite

Andrew is the founder and chief editor of Music Talkers. He's also a keen music enthusiast and plays the guitar.