Legendary Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, will be posthumously honoured with a Special Merit Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
The Recording Academy’s Special Merit Awards ceremony—recognising recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical Grammy Award—will take place on January 31, 2026, during Grammy Week, a day ahead of the main Grammys event.
Announcing the honourees in an Instagram post on Friday, the Recording Academy listed Fela among ten individuals selected for the prestigious recognition, describing him as the “architect of Afrobeat” whose work transformed the genre and influenced generations of artists.
“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,” they wrote.
The Academy further highlighted the global reach of his legacy, noting:
“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.”
With this honour, Fela joins a distinguished group of past Special Merit Award recipients, including Whitney Houston, Cher, Paul Simon, Chaka Khan, Carlos Santana, Sylvia Rhone, John Chowning, Eddie Palmieri and Bernie Taupin.
The Special Merit Awards ceremony is scheduled to hold on February 1, 2026.
Meanwhile, Nigerian stars Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, Wizkid and Omah Lay are among artistes in contention for Grammy awards.
The post Grammys to celebrate Fela Kuti at 2026 ceremony appeared first on Vanguard News.
