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The Recording Academy has announced that legendary Nigerian musician and Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti will be posthumously honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
The honour was disclosed on Friday, December 19, with the Academy confirming that the award will be presented during the Special Merit Awards Ceremony scheduled for January 31, 2026, a day before the main Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Fela will be celebrated alongside a distinguished list of global music icons set to receive the same honour, including Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Cher, Paul Simon and Carlos Santana, highlighting his enduring influence on world music.
According to the Recording Academy, the Lifetime Achievement Award recognises performers who, during their lifetime, made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recorded music.
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Fela, who died in 1997, is widely regarded as the architect of Afrobeat, a genre that fused traditional African rhythms with jazz, funk and highlife, while serving as a powerful vehicle for political resistance and social commentary.
Beyond music, Fela’s legacy is deeply tied to activism, as his fearless criticism of military rule, corruption and social injustice in Nigeria made him a global symbol of artistic courage and African self-expression.
Following the announcement, Nigerians and music lovers around the world took to social media to celebrate the recognition, describing the award as long overdue and a fitting tribute to an artist whose impact continues to shape contemporary African and global music.
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