The king of Nigerian Afrobeat, Fela Kuti (1938-1997), will receive a posthumous Grammy Award this weekend for his lifetime achievement, becoming the first African artist to receive this distinction.

This recognition comes nearly 30 years after the death of Fela, who spent his life opposing authoritarian regimes in Nigeria and whose influence profoundly marked world music.

He will be one of many artists honored at a ceremony scheduled for Saturday in Los Angeles (USA), the day before the Grammy Awards ceremony.

Other artists include Cher, Whitney Houston (1963-2012), Carlos Santana, Paul Simon and Chaka Khan.

In the 1970s, Fela, a multi-instrumentalist artist overflowing with energy, invented Afrobeat, a blend of jazz, funk, and African rhythms.

His work has influenced current afrobeats (with an S), a genre that emerged in the 2000s in Nigeria, attracting a global audience and blending traditional African rhythms with contemporary pop sounds.

Two years ago, the Grammy Awards created the "Best African Performance" category for the 2024 edition, and it was dominated by afrobeats artists, particularly from Nigeria.

Of the five artists nominated for Best African Performance this year, three are Nigerian Afrobeats singers. Another Nigerian, Tems, won the award last year.

"Fela's influence spans generations, inspiring artists such as Beyoncé, Paul McCartney and Thom Yorke and shaping modern Nigerian Afrobeats," reads a quote added to this year's Grammy Award winners list.

Also known as the "Black President", the legendary activist and musician died in 1997 at the age of 58.

His legacy lives on particularly through his sons, Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti, and his grandson Made, all musicians.

"This recognition coming at this time, with all three of us present, is a wonderful feeling," Made Kuti, himself a Grammy nominee in 2022, told AFP. "It's wonderful that the three of us continue to practice Afrobeat and keep this legacy alive as much as possible."

- "Better late than never" -

Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, Fela's first cousin and head of the family, told AFP on Friday that the award was "a celebration for the African people and they should consider it (...) as their own reward. Another African is being honored."

"But we also want to send a message to those who pay tribute (to artists) in this way: please (...) don't wait until people are dead," she added.

When asked what Fela's reaction might have been upon receiving such an honor, Ms. Ransome-Kuti replied: "I'm sure he would have said 'Better late than never'", even though "during his lifetime, he wasn't particularly interested in international recognition, especially Western recognition".

Fela was arrested numerous times by various military regimes in Nigeria during his career, sometimes because of his political activism and sometimes on charges of theft, which he always denied.

His first run-ins with the law date back to 1974, the year of the release of his famous album "Zombie", which was considered by the military authorities in power as a diatribe against them.

His long songs were full of defiance, explicitly hostile to the governments in power and to corruption.

His manager Rikki Stein, reached by phone by AFP in Los Angeles where he will join the Kuti family for the ceremony, said he was convinced that this award "will give new impetus to Fela's music – with 50 albums to his credit – and I am certain that his popularity will continue to grow again and again."

"A growing number of people who weren't even born when Fela died are showing interest in his music and, I hope, in Fela's message," he rejoiced.