Cultural Diversity Roster

In addition to her genre-bending music, Kidjo brings her infectious energy to her speaking engagements, with powerful messages about our shared humanity and what unites us at the intersection of world culture, race, gender, sustainability, and social justice. She often is asked to talk about the artist as activist, creative collaboration, education, and women’s empowerment. She recently has used her platform to focus on racism, describing the issue in America as “a worm eating an apple” and noting that the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted injustice and inequality. With her own inspiring life story and one-of-a-kind journey to stardom, Angélique leaves audiences uplifted — and dancing as she includes singing in many of her programs.

Angélique began performing with her mother’s theater troupe at age six. When the Communist takeover of Benin threatened her artistic expression, she fled to France, and later, New York City. She has sold out Carnegie Hall, topped the Billboard charts, dazzled world leaders under the Arc de Triomphe, and collaborated with all-time great artists across generations, from Alicia Keys, Bono, Peter Gabriel, and John Legend to Philip Glass, Josh Groban, David Byrne, and Carlos Santana. She is known for showcasing African musicians, spreading the sounds and soul of Africa in venues across the globe. Her memoir, Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music, embodies Angélique’s vibrant personality with a foreword by Desmond Tutu. Publishers Weekly called it “a beautifully told tale of courage and determination, revealing an expansive life that proves ‘music has no color, no language, no boundaries.’”

Angélique created her latest album, “Mother Nature”, while in quarantine. “Mother Nature” features collaborations with young artists from across the African diaspora, including Nigerian stars Yemi Alade and Burna Boy and Atlanta hip-hop due Earthgang.   

Angélique won her 4th Grammy Award for “Celia”, a musical reflection on iconic salsa singer Celia Cruz featuring legendary afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. Over the course of 10 beloved songs from Cruz’s catalog, Angelique’s voice soars in lockstep with a grand presentation of rhythmic touchstones that delve deep into the history of music from Africa and its influence on the music of Cuba.  Her 2018 album, “Remain in Light”, is a radical re-imagining of The Talking Heads’ landmark work from 1980, taking classics such as “Once in a Lifetime,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” and “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)” and reinterpreting them with electrifying rhythms, African guitars, and layered backing vocals.

Angélique won the Grammy for Best World Music Album two years in a row in 2015 and 2016 with “EVE,” a tribute to African women, and the orchestral album “Sings,” a blend of the rhythmic sounds from her native land with Western classical traditions. Her star-studded album DJIN DJIN won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Album in 2008. She has performed with several international orchestras and symphonies, including the Philharmonie de Paris and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

As an Ambassador for OXFAM and UNICEF, Angélique travels the world advocating for women, children, and human rights. At the G7 Summit in 2019, President Macron of France named Angélique the spokesperson for the AFAWA initiative (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) to help close the financing gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa. In 2007, she founded the Batonga Foundation to support the education of young girls in Africa. 

Angélique was the first woman on Forbes’s list of the “Most Powerful Celebrities” in Africa.