The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced on Thursday, September 3 than none other than Genie Francis (Laura, General Hospital) will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Honor at the upcoming 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, taking place October 30 in Hollywood, California.

In addition, next year in February, Genie will celebrate her 50th anniversary milestone of her debut on General Hospital where she first appeared on-screen as a teenaged Laura Vining back in 1977. She secured her place in pop culture history when an estimated 30 million viewers tuned in to watch the iconic 1981 wedding of Laura and Luke Spencer (the late Anthony Geary) Fast-forward to 2026, and Laura serves as the mayor of Port Charles.

Throughout her daytime career, Francis has also appeared on ABC’s All My Children as Ceara Connor, Days of Our Lives as Diana Colville, and CBS’s The Young and the Restless as Genevieve Atkinson. She won her only  Daytime Emmy back in 2007 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama Series for her role as Laura on General Hospital.

Photo: JPI

GENIE FRANCIS TO MARK 50 YEARS AS GENERAL HOSPITAL’S LAURA

In a statement on her Lifetime Achievement honor, Genie Francis expressed, “I want to offer my deepest gratitude to the leadership of NATAS for honoring me with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This February marks 50 years since I first portrayed Laura on General Hospital. Stepping onto that set at just 14, I could never have imagined the extraordinary journey that lay ahead. I am deeply grateful to have been welcomed onto your television screens and into your homes for five decades; for the love, support, and loyalty I’ve been given; and for the privilege of being a small part of your lives.”

She continued, “Thank you to NATAS, my colleagues, the daytime community and, most of all, the viewers. My career in daytime television has truly been the adventure of a lifetime, and I am deeply honored by this recognition.”

Adam Sharp, President and CEO, NATAS said on the selection of the iconic actress, “We are thrilled to celebrate Genie Francis’s remarkable career. From Port Charles and beyond, she has left an indelible mark on the landscape of daytime television, and she continues to tackle bold topics as a courageous storyteller to this day.”

Photo: ABC

A CAREER THAT SPANNED DAYTIME, PRIMETIME AND THE STAGE

In addition to daytime, Francis began her career at the age of 13 guest starring on ABC’s Family. Thereafter, she has enjoyed a diverse acting career, with notable roles in the miniseries North and South and Bare Essence, as well as The Note. Following were numerous television guest starring roles ranging from: Third Rock From the Sun, Murder She Wrote, the final episode of  Perry Mason, Roswell, and more, plus numerous stage productions.

Francis and her husband, Jonathan Frakes, (best known for his role as Commander William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation) have been married for nearly 40 years, and have two adult children, Jameson and Eliza.

MORE ON THE 53RD ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS

The Daytime Emmy Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974, honoring work in a variety of genres, including daytime dramas, talk series, entertainment news, culinary, adventure, instructional and legal/courtroom programming. This year’s Gold & Silver Circle Inductees and ceremony presenters will be announced at a later date. Tickets will go on sale September 9, 2026.

The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be a single ceremony in 2026, produced by NATAS Productions. Adam Sharp and Lara Gates are executive producers, with Leon Knoles returning to direct for a fifth straight year. Rachel Schwartz serves as Head of Daytime, and the firm of Lutz & Carr, LLP, provides accounting services for the competition.

Fans can watch the ceremony when it streams live on October 30 via the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) official website at watch.theemmys.tv or via the official The Emmys app.

What do you think of Genie Francis being named the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient at this year’s Daytime Emmys? Share your thoughts and reactions via the comment section below.

If you enjoyed the original song “Pray”as performed by Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) and Gio Palmieri (Giovanni Mazza) on the September 1 episode of General Hospital, it is now available on all music streaming platforms and their is a music video forthcoming featuring Ali.

In story, suspicious music executive, Simon (Grady Eldridge) booked his new signings to perform at the Cat’s Eye Lounge in Rochester, New York. Trina and Gio take to the stage and perform “Pray” featuring Trina on vocals. The duo perform a second song later.

However, someone is still stalking Trina, and we see the previously shown disturbing collage of the young woman, and now a photo of her performing on the Cat’s Eye Lounge stage was added.

This moment left viewers questioning if it could be Simon, or Kai’s (Jens Austin Astrup) friend, Quinn (Jequan Jackson), who were both at the venue, and could have easily taken the photo, or is this all a red-herring and the real culprit who is obsessed with Trina hasn’t even been seen on-screen yet?

Courtesy/ABC

WHERE YOU CAN STREAM TABYANA ALI’S “PRAY”

Following the airing of the episode and over the last 24 hours, Tabyana Ali took to her Instagram to share that “Pray” was a poem written by her and turned into the track heard on General Hospital. Now you can download or stream it via You Tube Music, Apple Music, Spotify and more. She also shared a music video for the track is forthcoming.

Ali also wrote on her IG post, “PRAY poem by yours truly. Grateful to the amazing team who helped me.” Jumping into the comment thread were her GH co-stars including: Cameron Mathison (Drew Cain) who gave Tabyana 5 applause emojis and GH newcomer Kayden Brenna Tokarski (Scout Cain) who expressed, “You are so amazing and talented!!❤️”

Tabyana Ali has been playing the part of Trina Robinson ,the daughter of Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) and Portia Robinson (Brooke Kerr) since 2022, taking over from Sydney Mikayla who stepped away from the role to finish college.

Now below, check out the full performance of “Pray” from Tuesday’s episode of General Hospital, and a preview link for the track on Apple Music.

Let us know, what do you think of the song “Pray” and Tabyana Ali’s performance on the track? Who do you think is stalking Trina Robinson on General Hospital? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by TABYANA ALI🌙✨🌺 (@tabyanaali)

A familiar face to ABC daytime fans is about to make a return to the broadcast television network, when Alimi Ballard makes his debut as new character William Baines on the Thursday, September 3 episode of General Hospital.

Early in his career, Ballard played Frankie Hubbard, the grown-up son of legendary All My Children super couple, Angie (Debbi Morgan) and Jessie Hubbard (Darnell Williams). Alimi played the part starting on Loving in 1993 which later was rebranded The City in 1995.

The GH casting news came from TV Insider, and while no other casting details were made immediately available about the character of William Baines, he enters the canvas hot on the heels of a murder mystery after Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) was found dead in the Metro Court pool. Could William Baines be a detective, a WSB agent, or something else? Stay tuned!

If Ballard also looks very familiar to you, he has an impressive list of TV and film credits including: Quizmaster in Sabrina the Teenage Witch and FBI agent David Sinclair on Numb3rs, and starred with Vivica A. Fox (Stephanie, Y&R) on the sitcom, Arsenio, plus roles in numerous episodic dramas including: Criminal Minds, Queen Sugar, Queen of the South, Law & Order and The Rookie. He also appeared in the 1998 film Deep Impact.

Photo: JPI

DEBBI MORGAN HELPED ALIMI BALLARD PREPARE AS AN ACTOR

Alimi took part in a sit-down interview with the Theater Corner in 2020 where he opened up about his beginnings on a soap opera and working with Debbi Morgan. You can see that below. During the conversation Ballard shared, “I got a chance to work along alongside one of the greatest actors I’ve ever seen lace up her boots — Debbi Morgan.”

He added,”She taught me everything I needed to know to get started as an artist — how to prepare you for the level of intensity, the level of dedication required to make these fictional circumstances connect with the audience.”

So, when William Baines hits Port Charles on tomorrow’s Thursday September 3 episode of GH, how do you think the character will fit into the storyline? Looking forward to seeing Alimi Ballard back on the soaps after more than 30 years? Let us know via the comment section.