Grammy honours Fela Anikulapo Kuti nearly three decades after his demise
By Tosin Brown –
The Recording Academy has honoured Nigerian music icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti, also known as Abami Eda, nearly three decades after his demise.
The late pioneer of Afrobeat was recognised by the Recording Academy as one of the recipients of its 2026 Special Merit Awards.
The honour places the late activist, singer and instrumentalist among global legends whose work has shaped the course of music history.
In an Instagram post announcing the honourees, the Grammys described Fela as “an architect of Afrobeat, honoured for a lifetime of influence.”
For the 2026 honours, the late Anikulapo-Kuti, also known as Abami Eda, is the only Nigerian on the list of recipients.
The Special Merit Awards will be presented on January 31, 2026, with Fela set to receive the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, a recognition reserved for artists who have made outstanding creative contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.
Fela, who died in 1997, was a Nigerian musician, producer, arranger, bandleader and outspoken political activist. In the 1960s, he created Afrobeat, a genre that fused elements of funk, jazz, salsa, calypso and traditional Nigerian rhythms.
