Legendary Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has emerged the first African to win a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.
The recognition comes almost 30 years after Fela’s death at the age of 58.
The award will be presented during the Special Merit Awards Ceremony on Saturday, January 31 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, a day before the 68th Grammy Awards ceremony.
According to the Recording Academy, “Fela’s influence and catalog of music have been widely celebrated and explored, including the podcast series Fela Kuti: Fear No Man (the New Yorker’s No. 1 Podcast of 2025) and the Tony Award-winning Broadway run of Fela! The Musical from 2008 to 2010. Fela’s influence spans generations, inspiring artists such as Beyonce, Paul McCartney and Thom Yorke, and shaping modern Nigerian Afrobeats.
“A titanic sociopolitical voice, Afrobeat’s revolutionary politics brought Fela into violent conflict with successive Nigerian military regimes, which made many attempts to suppress him and once sent in the army to burn down his communal home, Kalakuta Republic.”
The BBC reports that Fela Kuti’s family will attend the event to receive his award. Fela’s son, Seun Kuti, said the family is proud of his father’s legacy.
“We are all proud as a family. It is just a shame that I can’t be there physically to join my family to accept the honour because of travel restrictions.
“Trump has banned me because of talks of Christian genocide. Nevertheless, the family is proud. It’s a good day for African music, Afrobeat culture, and resistance music,” he said.
Other iconic musicians who will receive the award this year include Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, and Paul Simon. The Lifetime Achievement Award was first presented in 1963 to American singer, Bing Crosby.