Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti will posthumously receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, almost thirty years after his death.
Fela Kuti, who died in 1997 at the age of 58, the king of afrobeat, invented a musical genre mixing jazz, funk and traditional African rhythms, exerting a major influence on contemporary music. The international success of afrobeat led the Grammy Awards to create the category in 2024 "Best African performance". Fela Kuti thus becomes the first African to receive a Grammy Award for his entire career.
Over nearly three decades, Kuti has published more than 50 albums, performed on the biggest stages in the world and built a body of work where music also served as a tool for political protest. His commitment earned him violent and frequent confrontations with the Nigerian military powers of his time. Even today his music continues to influence many contemporary artists, and his legacy lives on well beyond his death.
