• Fela Kuti received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy

• He is the first African artist recognized by the Grammys for an entire career

• The award follows the 2025 induction of his album Zombie into the Grammy Hall of Fame

The Recording Academy has posthumously awarded Nigerian musician Olufela Ransome-Kuti, known as Fela Kuti, a Lifetime Achievement Award, making him the first African artist to be honored by the Grammys for his entire musical career. The distinction was presented during the Special Merit Awards, ahead of the 68th Grammy Awards ceremony held on February 1, 2026, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The family of Fela Kuti received the posthumous award.

The recognition comes one year after Zombie, one of Fela Kuti’s most influential albums, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2025. While widely celebrated, the announcement also reignited debate over the timing of the honor. Members of the artist’s family welcomed the award as a way to introduce his music and political message to a new generation, even as some observers noted that Fela was never nominated for a Grammy during his lifetime.

“The family is happy about it. And we’re excited that he’s finally being recognized. But Fela was never nominated [for a Grammy] in his lifetime,”his daughter Yeni Kuti told Al Jazeera. “Better late than never.” Graphic artist Lemi Ghariokwu, who designed 26 of Fela’s iconic album covers, described the award as symbolic. “It shows that as Africans, we often have to work five times harder,” he said, adding that Fela was deeply anti-establishment, even as the establishment now acknowledges his legacy.

Fela Kuti died on August 2, 1997, but remains a central cultural figure in Nigeria and beyond. His sons, Femi and Seun Kuti, have carried forward his musical heritage, while his influence is kept alive through Felabration, an annual week-long festival held each October in Lagos. The Lagos State government has also funded a museum dedicated to his life and work.

His impact continues to resonate across music and the arts. His work has inspired artists and creators ranging from Bernard Lavilliers to choreographer Serge Aimé Coulibaly. In 2017, American singer Erykah Badu highlighted a boxed set of seven of his landmark albums. In 2025, the exhibition Afrobeat Rebellion, organized by the French embassy in Nigeria and the Kuti family, was staged alongside Felabration, expanding on a version first presented at the Philharmonie de Paris in 2022.

The 2026 Grammy Awards also recognized other artists with African roots. South African singer Tyla won the Grammy for Best African Music Performance for her single Push 2 Start, marking her second win in the category after her first award two years earlier. U.S. artist of Nigerian origin Shaboozey won Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group for Amen.

South African singer Tyla won her second Grammy Award.

Miriam Makeba of South Africa remains the first African artist to win a Grammy Award, which she received in 1966. Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo holds the record for the most Grammy wins by an African artist, with five awards across the World Music and Global Music Album categories. Attention is already turning to the next edition of the Grammys, with expectations that African artists will feature more prominently across multiple categories.

Ubrick F. Quenum