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Angélique Kidjo

Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo[1][2][3] (/ˌɒ̃ʒəˈlk ˈkɪ, - ˈkɪ/;[4][5][6] born July 14, 1960) is a Beninese-French singer-songwriter, actress and activist noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Kidjo was born into a family of performing artists. Her father was a musician, and her mother worked as a choreographer and theatre director.[7] Kidjo has won five Grammy Awards. She is a 2023 Polar Music Prize laureate.[8]

Angélique Kidjo

Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo[1][2][3]

(1960-07-14) July 14, 1960
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actress
Jean Hébrail
(m. 1987)

Vocals

1982–present

In 2007, Time magazine called her "Africa's premier diva."[9] She performed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on July 23, 2021.[10] On September 15, 2021, Time included her in their list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[11]


Angelique Kidjo has collaborated with many artists including Bono, John Legend, Jimmy Buffett, Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, Carlos Santana, Josh Groban, Philip Glass, Sting, Ziggy Marley, Yemi Alade, Burna Boy and Davido.


Her album Logozo is ranked number 37 in the Greatest Dance Albums of All Time list compiled by Vice magazine's Thump website.[12]


Kidjo is fluent in five languages: Fon, French, Yorùbá, Gen (Mina) and English.[13] She sings in all of them, and she also has her own personal language, which includes words that serve as song titles such as "Batonga". "Malaika" is a song sung in the Swahili language. Kidjo often uses Benin's traditional Zilin vocal technique and vocalese.

Early life[edit]

Kidjo was born in Ouidah, French Dahomey, in what is now Benin.[14] Her father is from the Fon people of Ouidah and her mother from the Yoruba people. She grew up listening to Yoruba and Beninese traditional music, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, James Brown, Manu Dibango, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Fela Kuti, Stevie Wonder, Osibisa and Santana. By the time she was six, Kidjo was performing with her mother's theatre troupe,[15] giving her an early appreciation for traditional music and dance.


She started singing in her school band, Les Sphinx, and found success as a teenager with her adaptation of Miriam Makeba's "Les Trois Z," which was played on national radio. Kidjo recorded the album Pretty with the Cameroonian producer Ekambi Brilliant and her brother Oscar. It featured the songs "Ninive," "Gbe Agossi", and a tribute to the singer Bella Bellow, one of her role models. The success of the album allowed her to tour all over West Africa. Continuing political conflicts in Benin prevented her from being an independent artist in her own country and led her to relocate to Paris in 1983.

Paris[edit]

Due to political conflicts, Kidjo had to leave her home country and moved to Paris in the 1980s.[16] She initially planned to become a human rights lawyer, but ended up studying music.[16] While working various day jobs to pay for her tuition, Kidjo studied music at the CIM, a reputable jazz school in Paris,[17] where she met musician and producer Jean Hebrail, with whom she has composed most of her music and whom she married in 1987.[18] She started out as a backup singer in local bands. In 1985, she became the front singer of Jasper van 't Hof's Euro-African jazz/rock band Pili Pili. Three Pili Pili studio albums followed: Jakko (1987), Be In Two Minds (1988, produced by Marlon Klein) and Hotel Babo (1990). By the end of the 1980s, she had become one of the most popular live performers in Paris and recorded a solo album called Parakou for the Open Jazz Label. She was then 'discovered' in Paris by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who signed her in 1991.[19] She recorded four albums for Island until Blackwell's departure from the label. In 2000 she was signed in New York by Columbia Records, for whom she recorded two albums.

Albums[edit]

Parakou[edit]

Kidjo's first international album Parakou, first released in 1989, was the beginning of a series of collaborations with producer and composer Jean Hébrail and featured Jasper van't Hof.

Logozo[edit]

Her first album for Island Records was recorded between Miami and Paris and produced by Miami Sound Machine drummer Joe Galdo and features Branford Marsalis and Manu DiBango on saxophones. It was released worldwide in 1991 and reached number one on the Billboard World Albums chart. Music videos for the singles "We We" and "Batonga" were released and Kidjo made her first world tour, appearing at many festivals and headlining the Olympia Hall in Paris on October 31, 1992. Logozo is ranked number 37 in the Greatest Dance Albums of All Time list compiled by the Thump website.[20]

Ayé[edit]

Released in 1994, the album Ayé was produced by David Z at Prince's Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis and by Will Mowat at Soul To Soul studio in London. It includes the single "Agolo", a song that addresses the issue of the environment, of which the video directed by Michel Meyer gave Kidjo her first Grammy nomination. Ayé does not focus on traditional African instrumentation such as using the kora or the balafon, but still has an overtly African undertone to it with Kidjo singing in Yoruba, a Nigerian language, as well as in her native Fon, often using the Beninese traditional zilin vocal technique.[21]

Fifa[edit]

Kidjo and Jean Hebrail traveled all over Benin in 1995 to record the traditional rhythms that would form the base for the Fifa album. Carlos Santana appears on "Naima", a piece Kidjo wrote for her daughter. The single "Wombo Lombo" and its video directed by Michel Meyer was a big success all over Africa in 1996. Recording: Benin, Paris (Guillaume Tell), London, Los Angeles, Sausalito Plant (Carlos Santana).

Trilogy[edit]

In 1998, she started a trilogy of albums (Oremi, Black Ivory Soul and Oyaya) exploring the African roots of the music of the Americas.

Memoir: Spirit Rising, My Life, My Music[edit]

With Rachel Wenrick, Kidjo has written a memoir entitled Spirit Rising. It was published by HarperCollins on January 7, 2014. Desmond Tutu wrote the preface and Alicia Keys the foreword. On the back cover, Bill Clinton is quoted as saying: "The only thing bigger than Angélique Kidjo's voice is her heart. In this evocative memoir, Kidjo chronicles an inspiring life of music and activism, and raises a passionate call for freedom, dignity, and the rights of people everywhere."[39]

Collaboration with Philip Glass: IFÉ[edit]

January 17, 2014, saw the premiere of IFÉ: Three Yoruba songs for Angelique Kidjo and the Orchestre Philharmonique Du Luxembourg conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer at the Philharmonie hall in Luxembourg. Philip Glass wrote the orchestral music based on three creation poems in Yoruba sung by Kidjo. In the program notes, Philip Glass says: "Angelique, together we have built a bridge that no one has walked on before."[40][41] The piece made its American premiere with the San Francisco Symphony to a sold-out crowd in the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall on July 10, 2015.[42]

Founded

2006

Educational Charity No. 501(c(3)

  • Mary Louise Cohen
  • Angélique Kidjo
  • Monica Winsor
  • Jean Hebrail
  • Joel H. Samuels
  • Aleta Williams
  • Romuald Hazoumè
  • Colin Clarke

Aflatoun

African Well Fund

Bloomberg Philanthropies

Exxon Mobil

GreatNonprofits

Mastercard Foundation

Peace Corps

Population Council

Sigrid Rausing Trust

TOMS

USAID

World War I Centennial Ceremony[edit]

On November 11, 2018, Kidjo sang Bella Bellow's song "Blewu" under the Arc De Triomphe of Paris in front of 70 heads of state and a television audience of millions to pay tribute to the fallen African soldiers of the war.[58][59][60]

Personal life[edit]

Kidjo married French musician and producer Jean Hébrail in 1987. Their daughter Naima was born 1993 in France.[74]

Kidjo performed the original song "How Can I Tell You?" in the documentary , released in October 2020, with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.[75]

Nasrin

In 2009, Kidjo released a version of "Redemption Song" on the compilation album .[76]

Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration

Kidjo is one of the contributors of the (Museum of Modern Art of New York) project called "Design and Violence".[77]

MOMA

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Bimboland

Blood Diamond

Caro Diario by

Nanni Moretti

Changing Times by

André Téchiné

Krippendorf's Tribe

Le Code A Changé by Danielle Thompson

The Lion King 2

My Favourite Season by André Téchiné

Pray the Devil Back To Hell

Sahara

Six Feet Under

Streetfighter

The Air Up There

The Truth About Charlie

The Wild Thornberrys Movie

Who Does She Think She Is

Without a Trace

The Woman King

Kidjo also recorded songs for various movies, TV shows and documentaries, among them:

Later with [89]

Jools Holland

Late Show with in 2007

David Letterman

The Tonight Show with in 2007

Jay Leno

NOW with in 2002[90]

Bill Moyers

Politically Incorrect with in 2003[91]

Bill Maher

CBS Early Show in 2007

[92]

in 2015

Austin City Limits

She was interviewed by for Al Jazeera in 2008[93] and Christiane Amanpour for CNN in 2009, 2012 and 2014.[94]

David Frost

Kidjo has appeared on


She was the host of the Tavis Smiley Show on PBS in March 2010 and February 2014[95] and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in July 2010.[96]

Prix Découverte RFI SACEM (France, 1991)

Octave RFI (France, 1992)

Prix Afrique en Creation (France, 1992)

Danish Music Awards: Best Female Singer (Denmark, 1995)

: Best African Female artist (Africa, 1997)

Kora Music Awards

for Best World Music Act (UK, 2002)

Mobo Awards

Médaille De Vermeil De La Ville De Paris (France, 2004)

Africa-Festival Award (Germany, 2006)

SAFDA African Pride Award (South Africa, 2006)

Award (Canada, 2007)

Antonio Carlos Jobim

Image Award for Outstanding World Music Album (USA, 2008)

N.A.A.C.P.

(USA, 2008)

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album

Go Global World Music Award (Denmark, 2008)

(Italy, 2008)

Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic

Commander of the National Order of (Benin, 2008)

Benin

Making a Difference for Women Award from the National Council for Research on Women (USA, 2009)

Hall of Fame (USA, 2009)

Afropop

Celebrating Women Award from the (USA, 2009)

New York Women's Foundation

for her entire singing career (Italy, 2009)

Premio Tenco Prize

On May 8, 2010, Kidjo was awarded the honorary degree of by Berklee College (USA)

Doctor of Music

Officier de l' (France, 2010)[116]

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Grand Prix Des Musiques Du Monde De La for her entire songwriting career (France, 2010)[117]

Sacem

Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary World Music Album (USA, 2011)

Prix Special de la Francophonie (Washington DC, USA, 2011)

[118]

Award[119] (United Nations, 2011)

Champions of the Earth

nomination for Best International Act: Africa (USA, 2011)

BET Awards

Miroir Awards for World Music of the Festival d'été de Quebec (Canada, 2012)

[120]

Trophée Des Arts, FIAF French Institute, Alliance Française (New York, 2012)

[121]

's Award for Outstanding Humanitarian Work, shared with Oprah Winfrey, (New York, 2012)[122]

Keep A Child Alive

Lifetime Achievement Award from the African Diaspora Awards 2012

in the Best Artist category (UK 2013)[123]

Songlines Music Awards

On May 25, 2014, Kidjo was awarded the honorary degree of by Middlebury College (USA)

Doctor of Arts

On June 4, 2014, Kidjo received the Arms Around The Child Award along with Jez Frampton during The Other Ball event in London hosted by with Lily Allen, Florence and the Machine, Blood Orange and Rudimental[124]

Mark Ronson

On October 28, 2014, Kidjo was awarded the Chair Citation by The Fund for Journalists at the United Nations in New York. Past recipients include Bob Woodruff and Nicholas D. Kristof[125]

Dag Hammarskjöld

On December 27, 2014, in , Nigeria, Kidjo won two All African Music Awards (AFRIMA): one for Best Contemporary Artist, one for Best Female Singer from West Africa.[126]

Lagos

Kidjo is the recipient of the 2015 Crystal Award given by the of Davos in Switzerland[114]

World Economic Forum

On January 28, 2015, Kidjo was awarded the Visionary Leadership Award by the International in New Haven, Connecticut.[127]

Festival of Arts and Ideas

on February 8, 2015; Kidjo won her second Grammy Award for "Eve", a tribute to the continent's women.[128]

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album

On February 9, 2015, Kidjo won the International Mappie Award given by the M-Magasin in Stockholm, Sweden

[129]

On May 6, 2015, Kidjo was awarded the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award in New York by Synergos. Past recipients include Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Jennifer and Peter Buffett, Mo Ibrahim.

[130]

On May 18, 2015, Kidjo was awarded the honorary degree of by Yale University (USA)[110]

Doctor of Music

On October 6, 2015, Kidjo was awarded the Impact Award by the organization along with Elisabeth J McCormack.[131]

Population Council

on February 15, 2016; Kidjo won her third Grammy Award for her 2015 album, Sings.[132]

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album

Kidjo is the recipient of the 2016 Leadership Award[133]

AllAfrica

She has received the from Amnesty International in 2016[115]

Ambassador of Conscience Award

On June 23, 2016, Kidjo was awarded the title of Officer of the by Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.[134]

Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

On July 15, 2017, she has received the Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role from the for her role in Kunle Afolayan's movie, The CEO.[135]

Africa Movie Academy Awards

On November 16, 2017, Kidjo received the prestigious "Grand Prix Des Musiques Du Monde" from the for her entire career, in conjunction with the release of the French version of her memoir "La Voix Est Le Miroir De l'Âme"[136]

Académie Charles Cros

On February 24, 2018, Kidjo received the Charles de Ferry de Fontnouvelle Award from the . The following month she was added to the 2018 OkayAfrica 100 Women list. The organisers cited her talent and activism in making the award.[137]

Lycee Francais De New York

On June 14, 2018, she received the Prix De L'Artiste Citoyen 2018 from the , the French society of performers.[138]

Adami

On October 21, 2018, Kidjo received the first World Pioneer Award during the magazine Music Awards 2018 ceremony at Electric Brixton in London. She sang a duet with Fatoumata Diawara backed by Mokoomba during the finale of the evening.[139]

Songlines

On December 7, 2018, she received the German Sustainability Award along with and Rea Garvey. The award is endorsed by the German Federal Government, local and business associations as well as numerous NGOs, among them UNESCO and UNICEF. The German Sustainability Award was established in 2008 to encourage the acceptance of social and ecological responsibility and to identify role models in this area.[140]

Richard Gere

Kidjo was awarded the 2019 Dutch for her career in the Jazz and World category[141]

Edison Award

On June 13, 2019, she was awarded the Musicultura Unimarche Prize by the Universities of Macerata and Camerino in Italy which is awarded to Italian and international personalities who have distinguished themselves in their careers for high artistic merits.

[142]

Commandeur de l' (France, 2019)[143]

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

2020 Distinguished Artist Award from the International Society for the Performing Arts. Past recipients include , Arthur Rubinstein, Audra McDonald, Bill T. Jones, Peter Brook and many more.[144]

Isaac Stern

On January 27, 2020, Kidjo won the Grammy for at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards

Best world music album

On February 4, 2020, The University gave an Honorary Doctorate to Kidjo along with Nuccio Ordine and François Taddei[113]

UCLouvain

Kidjo's Grammy nominations include the of 1995 and Best World Music Album for works completed in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014 2015, 2019 and 2020.

Best Music Video

Kidjo is the 4th laureate of the Antonio Carlos Jobim Award (2007). Created in 2004 on the 25th anniversary of the , each year the award is given to an artist distinguished in the field of world music whose influence on the evolution of jazz and cultural crossover is widely recognized.

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal

On November 24, 2020, Kidjo was included in the 2020 list. The list compiles "the most inspiring and influential women in the World in 2020"[145]

BBC 100 Women

On January 1, 2021, she was awarded the , the highest French award of merit along with Roberto Alagna and Yann Arthus Bertrand[146]

Legion of Honor

On September 15, 2021, Time magazine included Kidjo in their list.[11]

Time 100

March 2022, Forbes Woman Africa Entertainer Award.

[147]

On April 3, 2022, Kidjo's Mother Nature wins "Best Global Music Album" at the 64th Grammy awards.

[148]

On July 8, 2022, she was awarded the Premio Monini during the prestigious . Previous recipients include John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe.[149]

Spoleto Festival

On September 4, 2022, Kidjo was inducted in the Hall Of Fame[150]

Headies

On November 8, 2022, She received the Path Breaker Award from the [151]

Safe Water Network

Kidjo received two nominations at the 65th Grammy Awards, for Best Global album for Queen of Sheba with and for "Keep Rising" with Jessie Wilson from The Woman King soundtrack.[152]

Ibrahim Maalouf

Kidjo is the recipient of the 2023 Vilcek Prize in Music given by the . The Vilcek Foundation champions diversity for the advancement of the arts and sciences. We celebrate and invest in immigrant artists and scientists at every stage of their careers.[153]

Vilcek Foundation

Kidjo is a recipient of the 2023 , considered to be the most prestigious Music Prize in the world. Past recipients include Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, Miriam Makeba, Sting, Elton John and Paul Simon.[154]

Polar Music Prize

Kidjo was honored with the 2023 "Great Immigrants" Awards along with Alanis Morissette, Ke Huy Quan, and Pedro Pascal. [155]

Carnegie Corporation of New York

On July 13, 2023 she received the "Prix Nuits D'Afrique Pour La Francophonie" in the City Hall of Montreal

[156]

On September 15, 2021, Time included her in their list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[11] In 2010, the BBC Focus on Africa magazine included Kidjo in its list of the African continent's 50 most iconic figures, based on reader votes.[97] and in 2020 she was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020.[98] In 2011, The Guardian listed her as one of its Top 100 Women in art, film, music and fashion[99] and Kidjo is the first woman to be listed among "The 40 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa" by Forbes magazine.[100] The Daily Telegraph in London described her as "The undisputed queen of African music" during the 2012 Olympic Games River of Music Festival.[101] In March 2013, National Public Radio (NPR) in America, called her "Africa's greatest living diva".[102] Kidjo is listed among the "2014 Most Influential Africans" by New African magazine and Jeune Afrique.[103][104] Forbes Afrique put Kidjo on the cover of their "100 most influential women" issue in 2015.[105] On June 6, 2013, Kidjo was elected vice-president of the Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs (CISAC). She now resides in New York City,[106] where she is an occasional contributor to The New York Times.[107][108][109] Kidjo has received honorary doctorates from Yale University, Berklee College of Music, Middlebury College and UCLouvain.[110][111][112][113]


Kidjo is the recipient of the 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum of Davos in Switzerland[114] and has received the Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International in 2016[115] She also is included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History that opened on September 24, 2016, on the National Mall. Other awards include:

Dance/club hits[edit]

Kidjo's music has been remixed by famous producers including Norman Cook ("We We") and Tricky ("Agolo"). Several of her singles have reached the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart. In 1996, Junior Vasquez remixes of her song "Wombo Lombo" brought the song to Number 16. In 2002, King Britt remixes of her single "Tumba" helped the song reach Number 26. "Agolo" was remixed by Mark Kinchen, "Shango" was remixed by Junior Vasquez, and "Conga Habanera" was remixed by Jez Colin. "Salala" from, Djin Djin, was remixed in 2007 by Junior Vasquez and Radioactive Sandwich.[157] "Move On Up" was remixed by Radioclit, the team from the Very Best.

Archived November 13, 2021, at the Wayback Machine

Case Study: Mapping, Targeting, and Training Benin's Future Leaders

Official Angélique Kidjo Site

The Batonga Foundation

"Batonga Foundation - Nonprofit Explorer"

on YouTube

Angélique Kidjo

The New York Times review of Angélique Kidjo, January 2014.

CNN African Voices profile of Angélique Kidjo, May 2009.

– video report by Democracy Now!.

Singer Angelique Kidjo Speaks Out on Climate Change

Angélique Kidjo video interview at underyourskin