Five-time Grammy winner, Angélique Kidjo, has been announced as one of the three recipients of the 2023 Polar Music Prize. The Sweden-based Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by ABBA manager Stig “Stikkan” Anderson. Furthermore, it has been getting awards since 1992. It is considered one of the most prestigious honours in the music industry. Past winners include Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Björk, and Sting.
Kidjo, who was born in Benin, is a singer-songwriter and will join only two previous recipients from the African continent: South Africa’s Miriam Makeba in 2002 and Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour in 2013. Honoured 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.
In the release, Kidjo says,
To be awarded the Polar Music Prize is humbling. 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 ceremony will take place on May 23 in Stockholm. Angélique Kidjo recently became the most awarded solo African artiste in Grammy Awards history. The count is after her album “Mother Nature” won a Grammy in last month’s ceremony.
