{"id":2099899,"date":"2026-08-18T22:38:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2099899"},"modified":"2026-08-18T22:38:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:38:04","slug":"angelique-kidjo-becomes-first-african-musician-with-a-star-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame-without-us-theres-no-music-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2099899","title":{"rendered":"Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo Becomes First African Musician With a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: \u2018Without Us, There\u2019s No Music Possible\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n
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\n\tAng\u00e9lique Kidjo has officially made history.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Tuesday (Aug. 18), the five-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, actress and activist became both the first African musician and the first Black African to be immortalized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Angelique<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tAng\u00e9lique Kidjo to Become First African Musician to Receive a Star on Hollywood Walk of\u00a0Fame\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tKarol G, David Guetta, Kate Hudson & More Getting Stars on Hollywood Walk of Fame: Full\u00a02026-27\u00a0List\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tChris Blackwell, Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo and Arvo P\u00e4rt Named 2023 Polar Music Prize\u00a0Laureates\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tVariety\u2019s<\/em> Angelique Jackson hosted the ceremony, which took place on a breezy California afternoon and drew a list of A-list creatives \u2014 including four-time Academy Award-nominated actor Willem Dafoe and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. \u2014 who gathered to celebrate Kidjo, 64, and her impressive four-decade career. Additional attendees included Academy Award-nominated, Benin-born actor Djimon Hounsou\u00a0and Nigerian music star Adekunle Gold.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe Africans don\u2019t know what we\u2019ve given to the world, what we continue giving to the world; without us there\u2019s no music possible [on] this planet,\u201d Kidjo said in her speech, which also included her breaking into song before joyously dancing over her brand new star. Just before revealing the star, Ron Frierson, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, proclaimed Aug. 18 as Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo Day in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

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\n\tHailing from Benin, Kidjo is one of the most important global figures in African music. In addition to her five Grammys, she\u2019s also won the Polar Music Prize, performed at the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo, and sent 14 titles to the top 10 of World Albums. In 2021, TIME<\/em> named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2022, she performed the 1,000th NPR Tiny Desk concert.<\/p>\n

\n\tThroughout her storied career, Kidjo has collaborated with a plethora of artists across genres, including Alicia Keys, Burna Boy, Yo-Yo Ma, Bono, Peter Gabriel and John Lennon. She is also the most Grammy-awarded artist in the best global music album category, with four of her five wins coming in the last decade. Her latest album, April\u2019s Hope!!<\/em>, features appearances by Pharrell Williams, Quavo, Davido, Charlie Wilson, PJ Morton, Ayra Starr and more.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cThis star is a permanent symbol; it\u2019s not going anywhere, and it\u2019s a symbol of your achievements,\u201d said Mason jr. \u201cBut your legacy, it lives in the people that you\u2019ve touched, that you\u2019ve inspired, the barriers that you\u2019ve broken, the connections you\u2019ve created all around the world\u2026 I spent much of my career among artists, and every once in a while, you experience someone whose impact extends beyond the stage\u2026 someone who isn\u2019t just an artist, but there\u2019s purpose behind the art. Ang\u00e9lique is absolutely one of those rare artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe first time I saw Ang\u00e9lique perform live, I thought her music, her dancing, her commitment were incredible,\u201d Dafoe, a friend of Kidjo\u2019s since 2002, said. \u201cShe is, without a doubt, the hardest-working woman in show business.\u201d He also praised her years-long humanitarian work through her Batonga Foundation, which aims to empower girls and young women in Africa. \u201cThis is not a token celebrity involvement; it is an extension of what she does with her music. She stirs us, lifts us up, and reminds us that we\u2019re all connected, and that love and understanding is the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCheck out a montage of Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo\u2019s journey to her 2026 Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony below.<\/p>\n

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[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/awards\/angelique-kidjo-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star-ceremony-1236319346\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2291044164-e1787087822859.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo has officially made history. On Tuesday (Aug. 18), the five-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, actress and activist became both the first African musician and the first Black African to be immortalized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Related Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo to Become First African Musician to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2099899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2099899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099899\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2099899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2099899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2099899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}