BBC : Angélique Kidjo first black African to get Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Musical icon Angélique Kidjo has become the first black African performer to be selected for a star on the prestigious Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kidjo, who comes from the West African country of Benin and has won five Grammy awards, was among the 35 names announced as part of the Walk of Fame's class of 2026 list.

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CBC : Angélique Kidjo's life and work is defined by one thing — freedom

Kidjo is known as a legendary singer, a five-time Grammy winner and one of the most lauded African artists of our time, but her path in music was almost cut short. Looking back, her life and work has really been defined by one thing : freedom.

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The Africa Report : Angélique Kidjo, an encounter beyond space and time (by Patrick Smith)

Fresh from winning the prestigious Polar Music Prize, the Benin-born singer tells The Africa Report what motivates her to cross cultural divides in her art and advocacy. Angélique’s life, music and art are about as heterodox as it gets. More than three decades as a star song­writer, musician and singer has garnered her the honorific ‘Mama Africa’ across the continent, as well as an attic full of prizes, five Grammys, the Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and top musical awards in more than 20 countries.

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AM NY : Billy Porter, Angélique Kidjo join NYC Global Citizen Festival lineup (by Emily Davenport)

Presented by Citi and Cisco, the Global Citizen Festival is calling on world leaders, major corporations and philanthropic foundations to take to the Global Citizen Festival stages and announce new commitments to End Extreme Poverty NOW. “The future of the continent of Africa, and indeed the planet, depends on the empowerment of women and girls,” said Kidjo. “I am proud to collaborate with Global Citizen to send a clear message to governments and leaders: it’s time to listen to the next generation. The young women and girls of Africa are not silent – they deserve to be heard. It’s time for the world to take notice.”

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Forbes Africa : THE PLAYLIST: An Exclusive Interview with Five-Time Beninese Grammy Award Winner Angélique Kidjo on Closing The Cultural Gap (by Renuka Methil)

The winner of five Grammys with 14 albums to her name, Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today. Time Magazine has called her “Africa’s premier diva” and she has cross- pollinated the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America. She recently released Queen of Sheba – it’s on Spotify – with Ibrahim Maalouf from Lebanon. In an exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA from Paris, Kidjo says she is right now, in a moment where “things are blooming in her inspiration zone”. She talks life, work and the road ahead for her – and African music.

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Shorefire : Ibrahim Maalouf & Angélique Kidjo Fuse Middle Eastern and African Cultures On Soaring, All-Original New Album Inspired By The Myth Of Queen of Sheba

May 31, 2022 – Ibrahim Maalouf and Angélique Kidjo have announced that their new album Queen Of Sheba will be released June 24. While these two superstars of international music have collaborated before, this is their very first album together.

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Punch : 2022 Headies: Angelique Kidjo receives Hall of Fame recognition

Grammy-winning Beninese singer, Angelique Kidjo, is the recipient of the Headies Hall of Fame in its 2022 edition. This was announced on the Headies official Instagram page, alongside the full list of the nominations for the music award.

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Washington Post : Angélique Kidjo’s new musical theater work comes to the Kennedy Center (by Mark Jenkins)

Eclectic singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo was born in 1960 on the cusp of a new era: Her homeland, now called Benin, was just two weeks away from becoming independent from France. But her ancestral village, Ouidah, remained haunted by its past. It was one of the most notorious centers for transport of enslaved people to the Americas.

That history is the inspiration for “Yemandja,” a musical theater piece conceived by Kidjo; Jean Hébrail, her husband; and Naïma Hebrail Kidjo, their daughter. Angélique Kidjo leads a cast of 10 in the central role of a Yoruban orisha (or spirit) in the production, which makes its Washington bow May 6 and 7 at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater.

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NPR : Opinion: Grammy's 'global music' categories ignore musicians from much of the globe (by Ian Brennan)

Angelique Kidjo makes it clear that this is a category that should have a mission: "We've got to educate people to understand that it's not just commercial music that is 'music.' We have music in the global category that is the roots of all the commercial music that people are listening to. It's important to go back and find out where the commercial music you are listening to comes from. "We need to bring the topic of global music to the forefront of the Grammys. We need to have a constant discussion to improve and get better. The whole world is watching."

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Interview Magazine : Angelique Kidjo and David Byrne See a Change Coming

Beninese diva-superstar Angelique Kidjo and David Byrne had known each other for many years before they ever thought about working together. In 2018, Kidjo released Remain in Light, a track-by-track reimagination of the seminal record by the Talking Heads, of which Byrne was the large-suited frontman. And amidst a lockdown landscape, both have stayed hard at work, with Kidjo—who is nominated for three Grammys this year, including Best Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance—starring in Yemanja, a music theater performance that she created with her daughter, and Byrne starring in American Utopia, the Broadway adaptation of his tenth studio album. The two remain close, though in light of the pandemic, they haven’t had an extended chance to chat until now. In order to reconnect, they hopped on the phone to discuss African musical entrepreneurship, generational shifts in young artists’ agency, and what’s to come for Afrobeats at large.

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The Berkshire Eagle : Angélique Kidjo's 'Yemandja' is a family drama and historical thriller (by Sharon Smullen)

Around the world, Benin-born singer, songwriter and activist Angélique Kidjo is musical royalty. Widely considered the “Queen of African Music,” she has performed at United Nations, Olympic and Nobel Prize ceremonies, collaborated with musical luminaries from Bono to Philip Glass and recorded numerous albums, four of which have won Grammy Awards.

On Friday, March 4, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, she will become a goddess in “Yemandja.”

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Vanguard : Angélique Kidjo, Psquare, Fireboy, others join Faces of Afrobeats campaign

Faces of Afrobeats, a campaign organised by Primemusicpartners to celebrate the frontier stars of the indigenous African music genre, Afrobeat, has featured Beninese Grammy-award winner Angélique Kidjo, Psquare, Fireboy Dml, R2Beez and others.

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BBC : Grammy nominations 2022: Wizkid, Rocky Dawuni, Femi Kuti, Angelique Kidjo Best Global Music Album category and how the recording academy pick the winner

Inside the categories, Nigerian musician Wizkid and Femi Kuti get nomination for the Best Global Music Album among other musicians like musician, Rocky Dawuni, Angelique Kidjo, and Daniel Ho & Friends.

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Billboard : Angelique Kidjo Leads Calls for COVID-19 Vaccinations to Africa

Angelique Kidjo, Femi Kuti and Davido lead a chorus of Africa’s arts and business leaders in calling on the richest nations to donate COVID-19 vaccines to some of the poorest.

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Euronews : "The dreams we have for our children are the same across the board," Angelique Kidjo

Recognised as one of world's 100 most inspiring women, award-winning singer-songwriter and activist Angelique Kidjo has been called ‘Africa's premiere diva’. In this episode of Interview, Euronews' Jane Witherspoon caught up with the singer following her recent performance at the opening of the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, to talk about her music, passions and work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

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Global Citizen : 14 of the Most Extraordinary Moments from Global Citizen Live in Paris

Thousands of people gathered on the iconic Champ de Mars to see Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Black Eyed Peas, Christine and the Queens, Måneskin, and Doja Cat perform, along with special guest performances by Angélique Kidjo, Charlie Puth, and Fatma Said, at the global concert uniting the world in the mission to defend the planet and defeat poverty.

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CAPETALK : 'I was never shy of being an African, for me it was a plus' - Angélique Kidjo

Sara-Jayne King catches up with African singing sensation Angélique Kidjo to talk about her latest album 'Mother Nature'.

- **Angélique **Kidjo is one of Africa's best-loved performers, with a career spanning more than 30 years

- Kidjo's latest album 'Mother Nature' was released in June and sees her team up with some of the continent's up-and-coming music stars including Burna Boy, Yemi Alade, Zaynab, and Sampa The Great.

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Angélique Kidjo Wins Best World Music Album For 'Celia' | 2020 GRAMMYs

Angélique Kidjo won Best World Music Album for Celia at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards. This marks her fourth win in the category and fourth GRAMMY win overall. 

During her acceptance speech, Kidjo celebrated a new generation of African artists coming up to represent the continent while thanking luminaries who came before her for their contriutions to world music, including Celia Cruz.

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IOL : Angelique Kidjo headlines Macufe Festival

The light behind Angelique Kidjo is bright. Skyping me from New Jersey, where she was to deliver a keynote address for the Segal Foundation, the global music icon looks like a nubian angel. 

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UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo and Benin’s music stars say NO to child marriage!

COTONOU, Benin, 20 July 2017 - UNICEF international Goodwill Ambassador, Angélique Kidjo and UNICEF Benin national Goodwill Ambassador Zeynab Abib, along with seven of Benin’s greatest artists have joined forces to create a song calling on the population to say NO to child marriage, as part of the national Zero Tolerance Campaign against child marriage.

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