Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has joined the Fela Anikulapo-Kuti family at the GRAMMY Honors Party in Los Angeles, held in celebration of the late Afrobeat pioneer.
The event marked Fela’s posthumous receipt of the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award, making him the first African artist to be honoured.
Videos shared on Instagram by Davido’s logistics manager, Israel DMW, showed the singer alongside Fela’s children, Femi and Yeni Kuti, and other members of his team at the ceremony.
Sharing clips from the event, Israel DMW wrote, “A night for late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Abami Eda of the universe. Outside LA.”
Fela will be officially recognised this weekend by the Recording Academy, with the Lifetime Achievement Award set to be presented at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, on the eve of the main GRAMMY Awards gala.
Other recipients of the honour include music icons such as Cher, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon and Chaka Khan.
Reacting to the recognition, Fela’s first cousin and head of the Kuti family, Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, described the award as a victory for Africa.
“This is a celebration for the African people and they should take it as their award. Another African is being celebrated,” she told AFP.
However, she also urged award-giving bodies not to wait until artists are gone before recognising their impact.
Reflecting on what Fela’s reaction might have been, Ransome-Kuti said the Afrobeat legend would likely have remarked, “better late than never,” while noting that during his lifetime, he was not particularly concerned about Western recognition.
Similarly, Davido’s With You, featuring Omah Lay, has earned a nomination for Best African Music Performance.
The category also features strong contenders, including Burna Boy’s Love, Wizkid and Ayra Starr’s collaboration Gimme Dat, Hope and Love by Ugandan star Eddy Kenzo featuring Mehran Matin, and Push 2 Start by South African singer Tyla.