Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti has been posthumously honoured with a major global accolade nearly three decades after his death.
The Recording Academy announced on Friday that it will present Fela with a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Grammy Awards, making him the first African artist to receive the prestigious recognition.
This award acknowledges Fela’s profound and lasting influence on global music and culture, according to the BBC.
In response to the recognition, his son and Afrobeat artist Seun Kuti said, “Fela has always been in the hearts of the people. Now the Grammys have acknowledged it, and it’s a double victory. It’s bringing balance to Fela’s story.”
Rikki Stein, a former manager and long-time associate of Fela, commented that the honour was long overdue, noting that Africa’s contributions to global music had not been sufficiently appreciated in the past. “Africa hasn’t been rated very highly in their interests. I think that’s changing now,” Stein said.
This recognition comes amid growing global interest in African music, fueled in large part by the worldwide success of Afrobeats, a genre that traces its roots directly to Fela’s groundbreaking work.
The Grammys introduced the Best African Performance category in 2024, and Nigerian artist Burna Boy received a nomination this year in the Best Global Music Album category.
Fela’s Lifetime Achievement Award places him alongside music legends such as Bing Crosby, and this year’s honorees also include Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, and Paul Simon.
Seun Kuti expressed that the honour is not just for his father, but for the broader global community. “The global human tapestry needs this, not just because it’s my father,” he said.
Fela Kuti is celebrated not only as a musician but also as a cultural thinker, political activist, and the creator of Afrobeat. Alongside drummer Tony Allen, Fela pioneered the genre by blending traditional West African rhythms with jazz, funk, and highlife, all marked by extended improvisation and politically charged lyrics.
Over the course of his career, which spanned until his death in 1997, Fela released more than 50 albums and became a fierce critic of Nigerian military regimes, using his music and activism to challenge authority.
