In reply to Ok but......

Good points! I'll admit, she, along with every other artist of today, copied a lot from those artists that you named and/or others. MJ, Prince, Madonna, etc., they were the best hands down. But MJ and Prince, as innovative as they were, copied a lot from James Brown, Little Richard, Jemi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, etc. Madonna was inspired by artists before her, like Grace Jones and borrowed a lot from R&B music, fusing it with pop. There is nothing new under the sun. For example, Michael, who most famously premiered the moonwalk on Motown 25, got that move from people like Jeffrey Daniel's of Shalamar, who in turn got it from street dancers. Beyonce was inspired by (or copied, call it what you want) the best, who were also inspired by artists before them, and now newer artists are clearly inspired by (or copying) Beyonce. Like the other artists named above, she puts her own spin on everything she does and is certainly innovative in the sense that she continues to take risks in exploring different sounds and not being placed in a box as an artist. While Prince certainly bended and blended genres, Beyonce's body of work is arguably even moreso diverse. She deserves this award as an artist of this generation.