Fela Kuti becomes first African artist to receive GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award

The Afrobeats pioneer is being awarded by the US Recording Academy some 30 years after his death

Afrobeats pioneer Fela Kuti is set to become the first African artist to receive a Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY. 

It comes almost 30 years after the Nigerian artist passed away, finally recognising his innovative and experimental work in the early sound of Afrobeats, where he combined traditional West African music with jazz and American funk.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was first introduced in 1963 by the GRAMMYs, meaning it will be the first time in its 63 years that an African musician will be recognised for their work in the category.

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While long-term friend and manager of Fela Kuti, Rikki Stein, said it’s “better late than never”, he says there’s now a changing view of African music in the global spotlight.

“Africa hasn’t in the past rated very highly in their interests. I think that’s changing quite a bit of late,” he told the BBC. “He wasn’t doing what he was doing to win awards. He was interested in liberation. Freeing his mind.”

The posthumous award will be collected by Fela Kuti’s family, friends, and collaborators at a Los Angeles ceremony on January 31. His son, Seun Kuti, calls it a “double victory”.

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“Fela has been in the hearts of the people for such a long time,” he told the BBC. "The global human tapestry needs this, not just because it's my father.”

In 2024, the GRAMMYs introduced a new category for Best African Music Performance, which has been dominated by Afrobeats artists since its introduction, with both Burna Boy and Davido nominated for three awards each in its three years.

As well as his pioneering work in the Afrobeats sound, Fela Kuti was also a political activist, and released music for the best part of four decades through the ‘50s to the ‘90s before his death in 1997. 

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X

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