Five times Grammy winner, Angelique Kidjo on Tuesday won one of Europe’s top music prizes, the 2023 Polar Music Prize.
Others who also grabbed the award are Britain’s Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, and Estonian composer Arvo Part.
Described by the organisers of Sweden’s Polar Music Prize as “one of the greatest singer-songwriters in international music”, the Benin singer, sings in native Fon and Yoruba languages as well as in French and English.
Time magazine has tagged the talented music star, who is best known for her hits, “Agolo” and “We We” as Africa’s premier diva”.
Blackwell founded the Island Records label in Jamaica that went on to sign such legendary stars as Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Roxy Music and U2.
Highlighted for his “unique compositional technique, tintinnabuli” which he invented in the 1970s is Estonia’s Arvo Part, who the jury described as “the world’s most performed living composer.”
The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by former ABBA manager Stig Anderson and last year honoured Iggy Pop and US songwriter Diane Warren.
Sources revealed that the laureates will receive their 600,000 kroner ($58,000) prize at a ceremony in Stockholm on May 23.
