Angélique Kidjo Becomes the First African Artist With a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Angélique Kidjo now has a permanent place on Hollywood Boulevard. On Tuesday, 18 August, the five-time Grammy winner from Benin received the 2,854th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the Recording category, at 7011 Hollywood Boulevard across from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. According to the Walk of Fame, she is the first African artist to receive one.

“Angélique Kidjo’s extraordinary artistry and global influence have inspired audiences across generations and continents,” said Ana Martinez, the Walk of Fame’s producer. “We are proud to honor her as the first African artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, recognizing her remarkable contributions to music and culture around the world.”

The ceremony was emceed by Variety correspondent Angelique Jackson, with actor Willem Dafoe and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. as guest speakers, and was streamed live on the Walk of Fame’s website.

Four decades of opening doors

The Walk of Fame framed the honour as arriving “at a defining moment for African music,” as artists from across the continent reach new audiences, and credited Kidjo with helping to open pathways for them over a four-decade career. Few artists have a stronger claim to that.

Kidjo, who began singing at six, has built a catalogue of 18 albums that brings the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin into conversation with American R&B, funk, jazz and gospel, as well as Latin American and European music. She has reimagined Talking Heads’ landmark Remain in Light, recorded a tribute to the salsa singer Celia Cruz and worked with generations of collaborators. Along the way she has collected five Grammys and been named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, one of the BBC’s 50 most iconic African figures and one of The Guardian’s 100 most inspiring women. Forbes has called her the most influential woman in Africa.

Her honours outside music are just as long: the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award in 2015, Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2016, the German Sustainability Award in 2018, and both the Vilcek Prize in Music and the Polar Music Prize in 2023.

HOPE!! and the next generation

The star lands alongside new music. Kidjo’s 18th album, HOPE!!, features Pharrell Williams, Quavo, Ayra Starr, Davido, Nile Rodgers, Charlie Wilson, IZA and PJ Morton, with a video for the standout “Bando,” featuring Pharrell and Quavo, on the way. The guest list itself makes a point: two of Nigeria‘s biggest Afrobeats stars sharing a record with the artist who helped build the global audience they now play to.

The album is dedicated to her late mother and came out of a period of grief. “My mother used to tell me that hope is the bedrock of our existence,” Kidjo said. “With this album I wanted to put some fire back in people’s hearts and show how much we need that joy and hope to keep our humanity going.”

Her work beyond the stage is part of the legacy too. Kidjo is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, was named a spokesperson for the AFAWA initiative supporting women entrepreneurs in Africa by French President Emmanuel Macron at the 2019 G7 Summit, and founded the Batonga Foundation, which supports the education and leadership of girls and young women in Benin and Senegal.

“I started singing when I was six years old, and I’m grateful every day that I still get to live my passion and do what I love with my life,” she said. Six decades later, that voice has a star with her name on it, the first for an African artist in the Walk’s 66-year history.