Beninese singer, Angelique Kidjo has won the Best Global Music Album award at the 64th Grammys.
The multiple award winning artist won with her project “Mother Nature,” leaving on her trail Wizkid’s “Made In Lagos (Deluxe)”, Femi Kuti and Made Kuti‘s “Legacy+.
“Voice Of Bunbon, Vol. 1” by Rocky Dawuni, and “East West Players Presents: Daniel Ho & Friends Live In Concert” by Daniel Ho & Friends, also nominated in the category, did not make it.
The 61 year-old Kidjo featured past Grammy winner Burna Boy, music diva Yemi Alade and Mr Eazi in Mother Nature..
iWzkid and Tems world acclaimed “ESSENCE” also missed out in the category of Best Global Music Performance.
The award goes to artists with new vocal or instrumental Global music recordings.
It was won by “MOHABBAT” Arooj Aftab.
“DO YOURSELF” by Angelique Kidjo & Burna Boy also did not succeed in clinching the award.
And so is “PÀ PÁ PÀ” Femi Kuti and “BLEWU” Yo-Yo Ma & Angelique Kidjo.
Meanwhile 61 year-old Angelique Kidjo has relished her latest feat, with ‘Mother Nature’ scooping the Grammy.
It is the Beninese diva’s first album of her own songs since 2014’s Eve, on which she celebrated the role of women.
Since then, she has released two albums, one on the Cuban exile Celia Cruz, the other a reclamation of the Afrobeat roots of Talking Heads’ Remain in Light.
The Best Global Music Album category recognizes performers outside the United States who showcase non-European, indigenous influences in their body of work.
The award was first handed out in 1992 to Mickey Hart.
Mother Nature was the fifth work of Angélique Kidjo to win a Grammy Award.
She first won a Grammy in 2008 for Best Contemporary World Music Album. In 2011, she was nominated for another award, but she lost it.
She picked her second Grammy in 2015 for “Eve,” a tribute to Africa’s women. She also won in 2016, her third for her 2015 album, Sings.
Altogether, the singer called the ‘undisputed queen of African music’ has had many Grammy nominations including the Best Music Video of 1995 and Best World Music Album for works completed in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014 2015 and 2019.
Angelique Kidjo was born on 14 July, 1960 in Ouidah, Benin Republic. Her mother was Yoruba and her father Fon.
She grew up listening to Beninese traditional music, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, James Brown, Manu Dibango, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Osibisa, and Santana.
By the time she was six, Kidjo was performing with her mother’s theatre troupe, giving her an early appreciation for traditional music and dance.