Five-time Grammy winner Angélique Kidjo has been announced as one of three 2023 Polar Music Prize recipients, another great achievement for the Beninese singer-songwriter.
Founded in 1989 by ABBA manager Stig ‘Stikkan’ Anderson, the Sweden-based Polar Music Prize has been awarded since 1992 and is considered to be among the most prestigious honors in the music industry.
Past winners include Paul McCartney (1992), Elton John (1995), Stevie Wonder (1999), Björk (2010), and Sting (2017).
Kidjo, who is 63, becomes just the third African artist to win the prize since it began in 1992: South Africa’s Miriam Makeba in 2002, and Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour in 2013.
Honored alongside Kidjo this year will be Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records in the UK, and Arvo Pärt of Estonia, the world’s most performed living composer, according to a Polar Music Prize press release.
‘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,’ she concluded.
The ceremony will take place on May 23 in Stockholm.
Angelique kidjo became Grammy Awards most awarded solo African artiste after her album ‘mother nature’ took home the gong in last months Grammy Awards ceremony.
