Fela Kuti Makes History as First African Artist to Receive Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

Historical previous became made in Los Angeles this weekend at some stage within the 68th Annual Grammy Awards season. The pioneer of Afrobeat, Fela Anikulapo–Kuti, became posthumously honoured with the Grammy Lifetime Fulfillment Award on the Special Merit Awards Ceremony. This landmark recognition makes Fela the first African artist to fetch this honour, a second that cements the arena legacy of Nigerian song.

The Recording Academy bestowed this honour upon Fela alongside an elite neighborhood of international song heavyweights, at the side of Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Cher, and Paul Simon. In an legit remark, Harvey Mason Jr, CEO of the Recording Academy, described the honorees as an exceptional neighborhood whose impact spans generations, genres, and the very foundation of standard song.

The ceremony became a most simple family affair, with Femi Kuti, Yeni Kuti, Shalewa Kuti, and Kunle Kuti latest to objective earn the award on behalf of their father. The pride of the Kuti dynasty became evident as they took to the stage to acknowledge Fela’s enduring affect.

Finally of the acceptance speech, Yeni Kuti expressed her gratitude to the Academy and the family’s supporters. “I wish to thank the Grammys for this amazing award. I’m sure my father is smiling down on us, she mentioned. She furthermore took a second to recognise the kin who had been absent, asserting, I wish to acknowledge my siblings who couldn’t be right here tonight, Motunrayo and Seun, and my nephew who is carrying Afrobeat to one other stage, Made.”

Femi Kuti followed with a tribute to his father’s mission and the arena neighborhood that has sustained Afrobeat for a long time. “I would like to thank the complete folks carrying Afrobeat which are in this assign tonight. DJs, the press, our price Partisan Info, our attorneys, fans at some stage within the arena, he eminent. He concluded with a reflection on the load of the second: Thanks for bringing our father right here. It’s so most simple for Africa. It’s so most simple for world peace and fight.”

This recognition by the Recording Academy serves as a definitive validation of Fela’s characteristic as a foundational decide in up-to-the-minute song, whose message continues to inspire hundreds and hundreds worldwide in 2026.