Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo made history on Tuesday when she unveiled her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, becoming the first Black African artist to receive the honour. The ceremony, held on the iconic Los Angeles boulevard beneath palm trees and California sunshine, brought together film stars and music industry figures to celebrate a career spanning more than four decades.

Kidjo, 66, was born in Benin, a small West African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, into a family steeped in the arts — her father was a musician and her mother a choreographer and theatre director. She recorded her first album at the age of 20, which opened doors to performances across West Africa. Political instability in Benin led her to move to Paris in 1983, where she studied music and began collaborating with international artists, including Dutch jazz keyboardist Jasper van 't Hof, with whom she recorded three albums. Her 1989 solo breakthrough album, Parakou, launched her onto the global stage. Since then she has released 18 albums in total, blending African sounds with jazz, funk and other genres, and collaborated with artists including Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers on her most recent record, HOPE!!. She has won five Grammy Awards and has been listed among Time magazine's 100 most influential people and named by the BBC as one of Africa's 50 most iconic figures.

At the ceremony, Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason Jr. described Kidjo as a "rare artist" whose work "reminds us that music is more than entertainment; it's connection." Actor Willem Dafoe, star of Platoon, praised both her electrifying stage presence and her commitment to humanitarian causes, calling her "without a doubt, the hardest-working woman in show business." Dafoe highlighted her Batonga Foundation, which works to empower girls and young women across Africa, describing her advocacy as "an extension of what she does with her music." Kidjo herself declared after the unveiling: "We Africans don't know what we've given to the world. Without us, there's no music possible on this planet."

Beyond music, Kidjo serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, advocating for children's rights across the African continent. Her star — the 2,854th on the Walk of Fame, which was established in 1961 — sits in the music category. Speaking shortly after the ceremony, Kidjo dedicated the honour broadly: "My star on the Walk of Fame is for Africa, for Benin, but also for France." The milestone underscores how a career rooted in one of the world's richest musical traditions has reshaped the boundaries of global popular culture.