Angélique Kidjo makes history: First black African artist to receive Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Indian Express

04-07-2025

Angélique Kidjo, a singer from Benin, will become the first Black African performer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, according to a report by the BBC.
Kidjo is one of 35 people named in the Walk of Fame's class of 2026, alongside others such as singer Miley Cyrus, actor Timothée Chalamet, actress Demi Moore and former basketball player Shaquille O'Neal.
Now 64, Kidjo has been making music for more than 40 years and has released 16 albums. She has won five Grammy awards and performed across the world, combining West African sounds with funk, jazz and R&B. She has also worked with artists such as Burna Boy, Philip Glass, Sting and Alicia Keys.
During the announcement event, she was described as 'Africa's premier diva,' BBC said.
Kidjo will join Charlize Theron, a white South African actress who received her star in 2005, as one of the few Africans to be honoured on the Los Angeles walkway, which features more than 2,700 stars.
A date has not yet been announced for when Kidjo will officially receive the star. Once selected, recipients have up to two years to schedule a ceremony.
Kidjo, who grew up in Benin, West Africa, moved to France in 1983, saying she left because of political oppression at the time.
'From the moment the communist regime arrived in Benin, I became aware that the freedom we enjoy can be snatched away in a second,' she told the BBC in a 2023 interview.
She added that she has always been curious, 'My nickname was 'when, why, how?' I want to understand things, to understand my place in this world.'
Before launching her solo career in 1990 with the album Parakou, she worked as a backing singer in France.
Kidjo is also a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and Oxfam. She runs a charity called Batonga, which supports education for girls in Africa.