Angélique Kidjo, a five-time Grammy winner, has been named one of three 2023 Polar Music Prize recipients, putting the Benin-born singer-songwriter in exclusive company. She will be the third African recipient, following South Africa’s Miriam Makeba in 2002 and Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour in 2013.
They “made such a global impact with their music,” Marie Ledin, the managing director of the annual prize, said in announcing the winners on Tuesday March 28 2023.
The award committee was enthralled by Angelique Kidjo’s “striking voice, stage presence and fluency in multiple cultures and languages.”
Angelique Kidjo, 62, has blended West African traditions from her childhood in Benin with elements of R&B, funk, and jazz from the United States, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America.
“To be awarded the Polar Music Prize is humbling,” Kidjo says in the release. “I have no words to say how important this is for me. It comes with a sense of responsibility that is bestowed upon me as an artist to continue to do great work. I will do my best to be a proud recipient of the Prize through my work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, on behalf of the children, and as an ambassador of music, to help create a world in which we can all live in peace.”
The Polar Music Prize is given out annually to individuals, groups, and institutions who have made outstanding contributions to music. It includes a cash prize of 600,000 kronor ($57,700) for each winner. In Stockholm, an awards ceremony is scheduled for May 23.Former ABBA manager Stig Anderson founded it in 1989.