Grammys to honour Fela with lifetime achievement award in 2026

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the late iconic Afrobeat musician, is set to be honoured with a special merit award at the 2026 Grammy Awards.

The Recording Academy’s special merit awards ceremony celebrating the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical Grammy Award recipients will be held on January 31, 2026, during Grammy Week 2026, on the night before the 2026 Grammys.

The Recording Academy announced via Instagram on Friday that Fela is among ten people to be honored with the special award.

Grammys described Fela as the “architect of Afrobeat,” adding that his influence shaped the genre and inspired a new generation of singers.

“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.

“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 joins an elite cohort of special merit award 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 scheduled for February 1, 2026.

Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, Wizkid, and Omah Lay are all in contention for Grammy awards.