The late Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is set to be honoured with a special merit award at the 2026 Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy has announced.
Fela will be celebrated alongside other recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award, and Technical Grammy Award during the special merit awards ceremony, scheduled for January 31, 2026, as part of Grammy Week, the night before the main awards show.
Announcing the news on Instagram, the Recording Academy described Fela as the “architect of Afrobeat” and highlighted his lasting influence on music worldwide.
“An architect of Afrobeat, honored for a lifetime of influence. 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,” the Academy wrote.
They added, “His influence spans generations, shaping modern Nigerian Afrobeats and inspiring global artists such as Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, and Thom Yorke. His legacy continues to live on not only through music, but through his family and through the Kalakuta Museum and the New Afrika Shrine.”
Fela will join an illustrious group of past honourees, including Whitney Houston, Cher, Paul Simon, Chaka Khan, Carlos Santana, Sylvia Rhone, John Chowning, Eddie Palmieri, and Bernie Taupin. The special awards ceremony is set for February 1, 2026.
Meanwhile, contemporary Nigerian artists such as Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, Wizkid, and Omah Lay are also in contention for Grammy awards at the 2026 event.
