by Jameelah Mullen
July 7, 2025
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce introduced Kidjo as one of many 2026 Stroll of Fame Honorees.
West African singer Angélique Kidjo made historical past as the primary Black African artist to be inducted into the Hollywood Stroll of Fame. The Grammy-winning artist from Benin is one in every of 35 inductees chosen by a committee of business insiders.
“Because of all my followers who introduced me right here,” Kidjo wrote on Instagram.
Kidjo was born in 1960 within the nation then often called Dahomey (now Benin), the place she studied music, drama, and dance. She launched her debut album, Fairly, in 1981. Two years later, she moved to Paris to flee the civil unrest brought on by the nation’s then-communist authorities.
“From the second the communist regime arrived in Benin, I turned conscious that the liberty we take pleasure in will be snatched away in a second,” she instructed the BBC.
Kidjo moved to Brooklyn, New York, the place she launched a trilogy of albums: Oremi, Black Ivory Soul, and Oyaya!, which drew inspiration from the music of the Caribbean diaspora and South America. In 2021, the singer was named one in every of TIME’s 100 Most Influential Individuals. She acquired the Polar Music Prize in 2023, also known as the music equal of the Pulitzer Prize.
The singer additionally appeared in The Lady King, the story of the real-life feminine Agojie warriors of the nineteenth century, starring Viola Davis. “Maintain Rising,” Kidjo’s duet with Jessy Wilson, appeared on the film’s soundtrack.
The singer-songwriter joins 35 artists within the 2026 class of Stroll of Fame inductees, which incorporates Shaquille O’Neal, Bone Thugs-N-Concord, The Clark Sisters, and ABC Information anchor Robin Roberts.
After the committee selects recipients for a star, they’ve two years to schedule their induction ceremonies. Kidjo’s staff has but to announce when the singer will unveil her star on the Stroll of Fame.
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