Grammys Honour Fela Kuti As First African Lifetime Achievement Award

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

The Recording Academy has posthumously awarded Nigerian music icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising his groundbreaking contribution to music and cultural resistance. The award, to be conferred at the 68th Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026, marks a historic first for an African artist.

Fela, who died in 1997, is celebrated as the architect of Afrobeat, a genre that fused West African rhythms, jazz, funk, and highlife with politically charged lyricism. His music and activism challenged Nigeria’s military regimes, earning him harassment, arrest, and censorship. Despite this, he released over 50 albums, inspiring global artists including Burna Boy, Kendrick Lamar, and Idris Elba.

“Fela has been in the hearts of the people for such a long time. Now the Grammys have acknowledged it, and it’s a double victory,” said Seun Kuti, Fela’s son and bandleader of Egypt 80. Long-time friend Rikki Stein added, “The recognition is better late than never. Fela championed the cause of people who drew life’s short straw.”

The award acknowledges Fela’s enduring impact on global music and culture, cementing his legacy as a movement, institution, and ancestor whose rhythm of resistance continues to echo across generations.