by Mary Spiller
December 20, 2025
The late Afrobeat pioneer and political activist is being honored decades after his death for reshaping global music and using sound as a tool of resistance.
Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician whose sound and politics transformed modern African music, has become the first African artist to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Recording Academy announced Dec. 19.
As NPR reports, the posthumous honor joins Kuti among an elite group of artists — including the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix — who are being recognized for “creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance in the field of recording.” Kuti, who died in 1997, was never nominated for a Grammy during his lifetime.
Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour praised the decision and described Kuti's work as transformative. “Fela Kuti’s music was a fearless voice of Africa – her rhythms carried truth, resistance and freedom,” said N’Dour. “It inspired generations of African musicians to speak boldly through sound.”
Often referred to as the “Black President,” Kuti was both a cultural icon and a political force. He was the pioneer of Afrobeat, a genre characterized by layered rhythms, expansive compositions, horn-driven arrangements and vocal chants. His performances were notoriously large, sometimes featuring more than 30 musicians and dancers, as well as double bass guitars and baritone saxophones. Kuti himself played several instruments, including saxophone, keyboards, guitar and drums.
Kuti rejected industry conventions, avoided love songs and commercial party music, released multiple albums in a single year, and refused to perform recorded songs live. His tracks often went well beyond the traditional song length, some lasting more than 40 minutes.
During a stay in Los Angeles in 1969, Kuti made contacts with members of the Black Panther Party, a turning point that pushed his music into overtly political territory. He became a vocal critic of the Nigerian military governments and apartheid in South Africa and came into direct conflict with the authorities.
This activism came at a high price. After the release of his 1976 album Zombie, which condemned Nigeria's military rule, government troops raided his property in Lagos. The property was reportedly burned down, Kuti was severely beaten and his mother, activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, later died from injuries she sustained during the attack.
Despite repeated arrests and imprisonment, Kuti remained defiant.
Amnesty International later described him as a “prisoner of conscience.” He was released after the military regime was overthrown in 1985.
Kuti died of AIDS-related complications in 1997, a revelation that helped raise public awareness of the disease in Nigeria. More than a million people reportedly attended his funeral.
His influence has only grown since then. His album “Zombie” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame last year and his life inspired the Broadway musical “Fela!”, produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith.
For many artists, Kuti's legacy remains fundamental. Malian singer Salif Keita said: “Brother Fela had a great influence on my music… His legacy is undisputed.”
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