By Ghazali Ibrahim
Legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is set to receive one of the music industry’s highest honours at the 2026 Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy has announced.
The late Nigerian musician will be recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating his enduring influence on global music decades after his death in 1997.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is part of the Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards, which honour artists whose impact on music transcends genres and generations.
“On January 31, 2026, we are honoring this year’s Special Merit Award recipients, including Fela Kuti with a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award,” part of the statement released reads.
Kuti will be honoured alongside icons including Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Cher, Paul Simon, and Carlos Santana. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on January 31, 2026, the night before the main Grammy broadcast from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Describing the recipient, “Fela Kuti was a Nigerian musician, producer, arranger, political radical, activist, and the father of Afrobeat. In the 1960s, he created the genre by combining funk, jazz, salsa, calypso, and a blend of traditional Nigerian rhythms.”
Fela Kuti, often called the father of Afrobeat, fused jazz, funk, and West African rhythms with politically charged lyrics that critiqued corruption and colonial legacies, making him a towering figure in world music whose influence is visible in contemporary African and global music scenes.
This recognition comes after a landmark year for his legacy: earlier in 2025 his classic album “Zombie” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, marking the first time a Nigerian album received the honour.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will solidify Fela’s place among music’s most transformative artists, long after his passing.
