A big moment for Africa happened on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. Benin’s music legend AngΓ©lique Kidjo, 66, became the first Black African musician to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The event happened at 7011 Hollywood Boulevard. Under sunny California skies, actors, music leaders and fans watched as her name was set into the famous sidewalk in pink and dark stone.
“This is bigger than me,” Kidjo told the crowd. “We Africans have given so much to the world. Without us, music as we know it wouldn’t exist.”
She then sang for everyone, and the audience listened in silence before clapping loudly.
Kidjo’s star is in the Recording section. The Walk of Fame has over 2,800 stars honoring people from movies, music, TV and theater.
According to France 24, two well-known guests spoke at the event: actor Willem Dafoe and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.
> Dafoe called her the hardest worker in the business. He also spoke about her charity work with the Batonga Foundation, which helps girls and young women in Africa get an education.
> “She lifts people up,” Dafoe said. “Her work shows us we are all connected.”
> Mason called Kidjo a special artist.
> “You have raised our music community around the world,” he said. “This star will always be here. But your true legacy is in the lives you’ve changed and the doors you’ve opened.”
Kidjo was born in Benin. For more than 40 years she has released 18 albums, mixing African sounds with pop, jazz and world music. Outside of music, she speaks up for social causes. She has been named one of Time’s most influential people, one of BBC’s 50 most iconic Africans, and one of The Guardian’s 100 most inspiring people.
This Hollywood honor adds to her many awards and shows how African music is gaining more attention across the globe.
As her star was revealed, Kidjo said the win belongs to Africa too. For many in the crowd, it felt like African music had finally taken its place on one of the world’s most famous streets.