A sonic innovator and a radical who spoke truth to power, Afrobeat pioneer and Nigerian music legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s legacy is proving to be one that won’t be soon forgotten.
Almost 3 decades after his death, the singer has made history by becoming the first African artist to be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy. The posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award was received by his family during the 2026 Special Merit Awards, in Los Angeles on the eve of the 68th Grammy Awards.
While accepting the award with 3 of her siblings, Yeni Kuti expressed gratitude towards the Recording Academy, adding that she was sure her father would be smiling down on them.
“I want to thank the Grammys for this wonderful award. I’m sure my father is smiling down on us, I want to acknowledge my siblings who couldn’t be here tonight, Motunrayo and Seun, and my nephew who is carrying Afrobeat to another level, Made,” said Yeni Kuti.
Fela received the commendation alongside Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Cher, and Paul Simon. In an official statement, Harvey Mason Jr, CEO of the Recording Academy, described the honorees as “an extraordinary group whose influence spans generations, genres, and the very foundation of modern music.”
In 1960s after returning to Nigeria from UK where he was studying music, Fela Kuti pioneered Afrobeat, a genre that fused together highlife and Yoruba music with American jazz, funk, and soul. What would become the foundation for Afrobeats in the 2000s. His music featured fierce criticism of military rule, corruption, and social injustice in Nigeria, which saw him regularly arrested.
In 1977 the singer released the scathing album, Zombie, a project whose lyrics painted soldiers as mindless zombies with no free will. Following the album’s release the Nigerian army raided his compound and brutally assaulted its residents, causing injuries that led to Fela’s mother’s death.
Last year Zombie was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
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