Angélique Kidjo makes history for Africa with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Angélique Kidjo has become the latest African artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, marking a historic milestone for the continent. She grew up in Benin but left for Paris in 1983, citing oppression from the country’s then‑communist government. Speaking to the BBC in 2023, she said, “From the infinitesimal the communist authorities arrived successful Benin, I became alert that the state we bask tin beryllium snatched distant successful a second.” The Walk of Fame ceremony was also filled with singing and dancing in celebration of Kidjo’s career, which has featured collaborations with Burna Boy, John Legend, Bono and Alicia Keys. Her latest album, HOPE!!, was released earlier this year with tracks produced by Pharrell Williams, and collaborations with Ayra Starr, Quavo, Nile Rogers and Diane Warren. She has released 18 albums in total and has been nominated for 17 Grammy awards, winning five times. Kidjo also won the 2023 Polar Music Prize, and two years earlier was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. At the event Willem Dafoe remarked, “She is without a uncertainty the hardest moving pistillate successful showbusiness,” Dafoe said astatine the ceremony. He added, “The archetypal clip I saw Angélique execute live, I thought her music, her dancing, her committedness were incredible.” Dafoe continued, “She's not lone an unthinkable performer - she doesn't popular connected the mic similar I bash - songwriter and musician, but besides an incredibly benignant and giving idiosyncratic and a existent woody activist.” The Spider‑Man star likened her energy to that of soul vocalist James Brown, whom he called the “hardest moving antheral successful showbusiness.” Harvey Mason Jr, CEO of the Recording Academy, praised her impact: “She's connected cultures, she's crossed borders, she's reminded audiences everyplace that portion we whitethorn travel from antithetic backgrounds, her euphony unites successful a mode that fewer different things can,” helium said. Kidjo serves as a UNICEF and Oxfam goodwill ambassador and is the co‑founder of the Batonga Foundation, which supports vulnerable young girls and women in Benin. She joins Charlize Theron, a Black South African actress, in representing Africa on the Walk of Fame, which comprises more than 2,800 stars.