The late Afrobeat crooner Fela Anikulapo Kuti has been nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award, twenty-nine years after his passing, by the Recording Academy, organizers of the Grammy Awards. The award ceremony, which is scheduled for January 31, 2026, at the 68th Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles, United States of America, where the award would be presented, marks a significant tribute ahead of Fela’s 88th birthday on October 15, 2026.
The recipients of the award on behalf of Kuti’s family and the global Afrobeat community are his children, Yeni, Femi, and Kunle Kuti.
Established in 1962, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes performers whose exceptional creativity and lasting artistic impact have significantly shaped the field of recording. Bing Cosby is the first recipient in 1963.
Widely regarded as the pioneer of Afrobeat, Fela composed, recorded, and performed more than 200 songs during his lifetime, prompting the academy to acknowledge the late music icon as a defining force behind modern
Nigerian Afrobeats, noting his influence on global stars including Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, and Thom Yorke. His enduring legacy continues through his family, the Kalakuta Museum, and the New Afrika Shrine.
Fela’s outstanding 1976 album, Zombie, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2025, with the honor accepted by his sons Femi and Seun Kuti.
While Fela did not receive a Grammy nomination during his lifetime, his immeasurable impact on global music has since been formally recognized through posthumous honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was born on October 15, 1938, and died on August 2, 1997. He was a musician, bandleader, and activist who founded Afrobeat and rose to become one of the most influential cultural icons in Africa.
From 1959, Fela studied classical music at the Trinity College of Music in London, now known as Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. During this period, he performed with jazz and rock bands, experimenting with sounds and styles that would later evolve into afrobeat.
He was also an activist who focused on speaking against military dictatorship, corruption, and social inequality in Nigeria, drawing the ire of successive military governments. Throughout his career, this resistance subjected him to constant harassment, violent raids, and periods of imprisonment under multiple regimes.
Although Fela did not witness Nigeria’s transition into democratic government, his legacy has been carefully sustained and expanded by his children, who have preserved his work while reinterpreting and projecting his vision onto modern African realities and global stages.
To continue honoring the memory and legacy of the late Afrobeat icon and activist, Yeni Kuti initiated Felabration, an annual festival celebrating his life and times. The New Afrika Shrine, a vibrant cultural center for live Afrobeat performances, discussions, and artistic expression inspired by Fela’s philosophy, is jointly managed by Femi and Yeni Kuti. Meanwhile, the Kalakuta Museum, located in Fela’s former Ikeja residence and serving as both an archive and tourist destination that introduces his story to new generations, is overseen by Kunle Kuti.
Similarly, Yeni, Femi, and Kunle Kuti, the joint administrators of Fela’s Estate, usually make major decisions regarding the use of Fela’s name, image, likeness, and other intellectual property, ensuring that all initiatives remain faithful to his principles and the family’s strategic vision.