Beninese music icon and five-time Grammy Award winner, Angélique Kidjo, has made history as the first Black African artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Kidjo was selected for the honour as part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame Class of 2026 in recognition of her contribution to the recording industry.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced her selection alongside other global entertainment figures, including Miley Cyrus, Timothée Chalamet, Demi Moore and Deepika Padukone.
The recognition makes Kidjo the first Black African artist to receive the prestigious honour, further cementing her status as one of Africa’s most influential musical exports.
During her speech at the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, Kidjo thanked the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, members of the Beninese delegation, the Minister of Culture, Benin’s ambassador to the United States, African artists and others who travelled to attend the event.
“Good morning, everybody. And thanks for being here. The ones that have traveled a long way to be here, the ones that live here, that are my family in Los Angeles, I want to take a moment to thank the Chamber of Commerce, Anna, the Benin delegation, the Minister of Culture, the Ambassador of Benin at the United States, and the artists that come from Africa, and also all of you.
“I want to say thank you to you for making the trip. It means the world to me. I want to thank Mr. DeFoe.
“We got story to tell. We both together when we party, you better set aside, man. We just break the whole place down.
“Thank you, William.
“Harvey, you’ve welcomed me to the Grammy, to the Academy of Music, and you’ve given me the freedom to speak on behalf of the Africans, artists, but above it all, you bring me to your vision to transform the Recording Academy. And you never stop.
“And I have to say, I love your dedication, I love your thoroughness, and you never give up. So you give me compliment, I follow your footstep in making sure that what has to be done is done. No matter how hard it is, we never give up.
“I want to thank Mr. Antoine Grieff from Warner Music. He has been in the music business for so long, and when I came in, his vision of me is very rare heard in any music business. He believed in me because he knows my capacity of working and what I do.
“Antoine, I can’t thank you enough, and all the team at Warner. I want to take a moment to thank my management, Red Light Management, Tia, Kevin, Nate, and above, and also Surefire, my PR firm.
“Now I want to thank my family, my brothers and sisters that make it, because you don’t become somebody without a family that extends beyond your real family, but around the globe.
“I have Georgiana here, that’s the first chef in Michelin. I mean, you guys can understand the impact of this on the continent of Africa or in my country. I’ve come from that country that has inspired the world through its culture, and we just don’t know it.
“We Africans don’t know what we’ve given to the world, that we continue giving to the world for the music to exist. Without us, there’s no music possible on this planet.
“So I just want to thank also Jimo.
“Jimo, my brother, I love you dearly. I haven’t seen you in a while, but you know I love you dearly, right? So now that we reconnect, let’s keep together and do what we have to do.
“The vision we have, let’s implement it and work with the leaders of our country to change our continent for the youth to have a future in Africa for us to create economy that will serve us and policies that can serve us.
“Not more, no one, everybody telling us what we got to do, and we’re going to have the Recording Academy on our side to prepare the next generation to be better.
“I want to thank the team of Bruit Africa, Sarah, all of you that came. I never make makeup like that in my face.
“I don’t do no makeup. I just put the stuff on and I’m out. So this morning I have one hour and a half makeup.
“I’m like, dude, if I have to do one hour and a half of makeup, I ain’t doing no makeup. But I’m going to take it because today is exceptional.
“So that having said, I say thank you.
Kidjo, who was born in Benin, has built a career spanning more than four decades, blending West African musical traditions with genres including Afrobeat, jazz, funk, R&B and Latin music.
She has won five Grammy Awards and has collaborated with several internationally renowned artists throughout her career.
Her selection for the Hollywood Walk of Fame was announced in July 2025 as part of the 2026 class of honourees. The Recording category includes Kidjo, Air Supply, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Paulinho da Costa, The Clark Sisters, Miley Cyrus, Josh Groban, Grupo Intocable and Lyle Lovett.
Kidjo’s historic recognition is widely seen as a major milestone for African representation in the global entertainment industry.
