Angélique Kidjo

Why you should listen

Five-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is a creative force in international music, with 14 albums to her name. As a performer, her striking voice, stage presence and fluency in multiple cultures and languages have won respect from her peers and a following that extends across national borders. Her music cross-pollinates the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America.

As a UNICEF and Oxfam ambassador, Kidjo also travels the world advocating on behalf of children. At the G7 Summit in 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron named her spokesperson for the AFAWA initiative (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) to help close the financing gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa. She has also created her own charitable foundation, Batonga, dedicated to supporting the education of young African girls.

TIME magazine called Kidjo "Africa's premier diva" and named her one of the most influential people in the world in 2021. The BBC, Forbes magazine and The Guardian have all highlighted her importance to the people of the African continent. She is the recipient of the 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the 2016 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award and the 2018 German Sustainability Award.