By 
Nigeria’s Afrobeat king Fela Kuti was on Saturday evening posthumously recognised by the Grammys with a Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first African artist to receive the distinction.
After a lifetime of clashes with successive powers in Nigeria, the recognition comes nearly three decades after Fela’s death and long after his influence reshaped global music.
He was one of several artists getting the award at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, the eve of the main Grammys gala.
According to rfi.fr, other recipients included Cher, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon and Chaka Khan.
Fela’s son Femi Kuti accepted the award on his father’s behalf.
“Thank you for bringing our father here,” he told the audience.”It’s so important for us, it’s so important for Africa, it’s so important for world peace and the struggle.”
In the 1970s, Fela the multi-instrumentalist and full-of-life performer invented Afrobeat: a mixture of jazz, funk and African rhythms.
That laid the groundwork for Afrobeats – a later genre that has attracted a global audience by blending traditional African rhythms with contemporary pop sounds, with its roots in Nigeria.
Two years ago the Grammys introduced the category of Best African Performance in 2024 and it has been dominated by Afrobeats artists, especially from Nigeria.
Of the five nominees for the Best African performance this year, three are Nigerian Afrobeats singers, after another Nigerian, Tems, won last year.
‘Black President’
“Fela’s influence spans generations, inspiring artists such as Beyonce, Paul McCartney and Thom Yorke, and shaping modern Nigerian Afrobeats,” said a citation on the Grammys list of this year’s honorees.
Known also as the “Black President”, the activist and legendary musician, died in 1997 at the age of 58.
His legacy lives on through his sons, Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti, and grandson Made.
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