Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, a legendary Afrobeat pioneer, will become the first African artist to win a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nearly thirty years after his passing, the Recording Academy announced that the late “King of Afrobeat” will be honored at the 2026 Grammy Awards, according to Channels Television.

Given Fela’s long-standing criticism of Western power structures and the international music establishment during his lifetime, the recognition is coming at a symbolic moment.

The award will be presented at the Special Merit Awards Ceremony on Saturday, January 31, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, just a day before the main 68th Grammy Awards ceremony.