Kidjo First African on Walk of Fame
Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo became the first African musician and the first Black African performer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, when the five-time Grammy winner was honoured with the 2,854th star in the Recording category.
The outdoor ceremony took place at 11:30 a.m. local time at 7011 Hollywood Boulevard, opposite the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Variety correspondent Angelique Jackson hosted the event, which was attended by figures including actor Willem Dafoe, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., Benin-born actor Djimon Hounsou and Nigerian artist Adekunle Gold. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ron Frierson proclaimed 18 August as Angélique Kidjo Day in Hollywood.
Kidjo, 66, accepted the honour in an orange fringed gown and blue headwrap, briefly singing and dancing over the newly unveiled star. “We Africans don’t know what we’ve given to the world, what we continue giving to the world; without us there’s no music possible on this planet,” she told the crowd. She has previously described the recognition as belonging not only to her but to African artists past, present and future, adding that she is convinced she will not be the last.
Dafoe, a longtime friend, called her the hardest-working woman in show business and praised both her performances and her activism through the Batonga Foundation, which supports girls’ education in Africa. Mason Jr. said the star was a permanent symbol of her achievements while her true legacy lived in the people she had inspired and the barriers she had broken.
Born in Ouidah, Benin, in 1960, Kidjo began performing as a child and later fled political repression to Paris in 1983. Over more than four decades she has released nearly 20 albums that blend West African rhythms and languages with funk, jazz, R&B and global styles, collaborating with artists including Philip Glass, Alicia Keys, Burna Boy and Pharrell Williams. She holds a record number of Grammy Awards in the Best Global Music Album category, received the Polar Music Prize in 2023 and serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Her latest album, HOPE!!, was released in April 2026.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce selected her as part of the Class of 2026. While South African actress Charlize Theron received a star in 2005, Kidjo’s honour marks the first for a Black African and for an African-born musician. The milestone comes as African music enjoys growing global prominence, with Kidjo long acting as both bridge and advocate for the continent’s creative contribution.
