Fela Kuti to receive Grammy lifetime achievement award nearly 30 years after his death

Legendary Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, is set to make history as the first African artist to receive a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Recording Academy announced that the late “King of Afrobeat” will be honoured at the 2026 Grammy Awards, almost three decades after his death, Channels Television reported.

The recognition is coming as a symbolic moment, considering Fela’s long-standing criticism of Western power structures and the global music establishment during his lifetime.

The award will be presented at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony on Saturday, January 31, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, just a day before the main 68th Grammy Awards ceremony.