Nigeria, Dec. 20 -- The Recording Academy has announced Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti as a Special Merit Awards honoree at the 2026 Grammy Awards, nearly three decades after his death.

Fela, who died on 2 August 1997, will be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award alongside other legends, including Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Cher, and Paul Simon.

The Special Merit Awards, many of which are posthumous, are scheduled to take place on 31 January 2026. This will be followed by the 68th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday, 1 February 2026, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.

Announcing the awards in an Instagram Post on Friday, the Recording Academy stated that Fela is being honoured posthumously for his lif...