Fela Kuti becomes first African to receive Grammy lifetime achievement award

Nearly three decades after his death, Nigerian music legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti is being recognised by the global music industry he helped reshape.

The late Afrobeat pioneer will posthumously receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African to do so. The honour will be presented by the Recording Academy at this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony.

“Fela has been in the hearts of the people for such a long time,” his son, musician Seun Kuti, told the BBC. “Now the Grammys have acknowledged it, and it’s a double victory.”

Grammy Recognition and Global Music History

The Lifetime Achievement Award, first presented in 1963, has previously gone to artists such as Bing Crosby. This year’s recipients include Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan and Paul Simon.

Fela’s recognition comes amid rising global interest in African music. Following the worldwide success of Afrobeats, a genre inspired by his work, the Grammys introduced the Best African Performance category in 2024.

Music manager and long-time friend Rikki Stein described the honour as “better late than never,” noting that African music was long overlooked by global institutions.

Afrobeat, Resistance and Cultural Power

Fela Kuti was more than a musician. He was a political agitator, cultural theorist and outspoken critic of corruption and military rule in Nigeria.

Across a career spanning three decades, he released more than 50 albums, blending West African rhythms, jazz, funk and highlife with fierce political messages. His music often brought violent reprisals, including a 1977 raid on his Lagos compound after the release of his album Zombie.

Rather than retreat, Fela turned repression into protest, using music as resistance.

A Legacy That Outlived Repression

Today, Fela’s influence is heard in artists such as Burna Boy and Kendrick Lamar. Actor and DJ Idris Elba has curated an official vinyl box set celebrating his work.

“This is immortality,” said album artist Lemi Ghariokwu, who designed many of Fela’s covers. “His legacy is growing by the day.”

Fela Kuti’s family will attend the ceremony to receive the award on his behalf.