Legendary Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti created history as the first African musician to be admitted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
This year, Fela, Queen Latifah, rapper MC Lyte, country music artist Gram Parsons, and Cuban singer Celia Cruz will all receive awards in the early influence category.
During an American Idol broadcast on Monday night in the US, the honourees were made public.
Sade Adu, a British singer of Nigerian descent, will receive recognition in the performance category.
Despite being nominated, Shakira, Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill, New Edition, and Pink did not make the final cut.
The honourees were chosen by a vote of more than 1,200 musicians, historians, and professionals in the music business.
The induction ceremony will be held on 14 November at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, Fela also made history as the first African musician to win the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
ALSO READ: “How Fela’s Wives Gave Him HIV” Seun Kuti Reveals
According to Seun Kuti, his father, the late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, did not forbid his wives from having extramarital affairs.
He went on to say that this was one of Fela’s worst mistakes, claiming that some of the ladies eventually contracted HIV from their other lovers and gave it to the late singer.
In a recent Instagram livestream, Kuti stated that he was the victim and refuted rumours that Fela was the one who infected his girlfriends.
He said, “Fela made many mistakes. One of the mistakes he made -one day, I saw a video of a lady online saying why are people praising Fela’s legacy despite him giving women HIV and dying of AIDS.
“I said, ‘Oh, Fela you see yourself?’ If Fela was a traditional man, he would still be alive. I will tell you something about him that you might not have known, Fela’s women all had other men.
“Fela did not keep his women to himself. He believed that as he is free to sleep with all the women, the women are also free to meet other men. His law was that they shouldn’t bring the men to his house.
“My father doesn’t leave his house to sleep with other women outside, so it was his women who brought HIV home to him. Nobody is perfect. Everybody make mistakes. But Fela is a man that is on the side of humanity.”
Fela made headlines when he married 27 women in a single traditional ceremony on February 20, 1978, in Lagos.
