Angélique Kidjo will receive her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this Tuesday, August 18, becoming the first African artist to receive this distinction. The 66-year-old French-Beninese singer joins more than 2,800 other honorees on the famous Los Angeles boulevard, including Michael Jackson, the Beatles, and Charles Aznavour. The awarding of this star was announced in the summer of 2025.
This recognition celebrates an international career spanning more than forty years. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Angélique Kidjo has helped bring African music to a global audience by blending traditional sounds with jazz, funk, rock, pop, and rap. She has also been a key figure in the contemporary rise of Afrobeats through collaborations with artists such as Burna Boy and Davido.
An award dedicated to the African continent
Angélique Kidjo chose to dedicate her star to Benin and to the African artists who preceded her without receiving such recognition. She specifically mentioned the Togolese singer Bella Bellow and the South African Miriam Makeba, two figures who influenced her artistic journey. For the singer, this ceremony also represents a message of openness to different cultures in an international context marked by tensions and violence.
The ceremony, to be held in Los Angeles, is expected to take place in the presence of producer Harvey Mason Jr., head of the Grammy Awards organization, and actor Willem Dafoe. A close friend of Angélique Kidjo since they met in New York in 2002, Dafoe is scheduled to deliver a speech in her honor. Their two stars will be placed side by side on Hollywood Boulevard, symbolizing a friendship spanning nearly a quarter of a century.
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