Beninese music icon and five-time Grammy winner, Angélique Kidjo, has made history as the first African artiste ever selected for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, during a conference by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles, unveiling the Class of 2026 honourees.
Kidjo, whose four-decade music career spans Afrobeat, jazz, funk, and traditional West African sounds, was named alongside 34 global entertainment figures including Miley Cyrus, Timothée Chalamet, Shaquille O’Neal, Deepika Padukone, and Lea Salonga.
Her selection is part of a list ratified by the Hollywood Walk of Fame board of directors on June 25, after reviewing hundreds of global nominations.
Born in Cotonou, Benin, in 1960, Kidjo rose from the streets of West Africa to become one of the continent’s most powerful musical exports.
Her signature albums like Logozo (1991), Black Ivory Soul (2002), Eve (2014), Celia (2019), and the Grammy-winning Mother Nature (2021), are said to have not only broken language and cultural barriers but reshaped how the world listens to African music.
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