Angélique Kidjo - ZMF Freiburg

Five-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the biggest artists on the international music scene today, a creative force with sixteen albums to her name. Time Magazine called her "Africa's leading diva" and named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021. The BBC included her in its list of the continent's 50 most iconic personalities, and The Guardian listed her as one of the 100 most inspiring women in the world in 2011. Forbes Magazine was the first woman to include Angelique in its list of the most powerful personalities in Africa. She recently received the prestigious Crystal Award 2015 from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award 2016, the German Sustainability Award 2018, the Vilcek Prize in Music 2023 and the Polar Music Prize 2023.
Her distinctive voice, stage presence and fluency in multiple cultures and languages have earned her the respect of her peers and expanded her following beyond national borders. Kidjo has blended the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America.
After exploring the ways of the African diaspora on her last album Mother Nature, presenting a refreshing and electrifying interpretation of the Talking Heads album Remain In Light and reflecting on an American icon - acclaimed salsa singer Celia Cruz - the award-winning luminary joins forces with many of her musical progeny, including some of the most captivating young creators of West African music, Afrobeat, Afro-pop, dancehall, hip-hop and alt-R&B. The result is a truly visionary work, rooted in a deep understanding of musical tradition, yet infinitely forward-thinking and inventive. Mother Nature fulfills a promise Kidjo first made when accepting the award for Best Global Music Album at the 2016 Grammys, and then repeated after winning Best World Music Album in 2020, proudly proclaiming, "The new generation of artists coming out of Africa will take you by storm, and the time has come." In sharing this album with the world, Kidjo hopes that her songs will inspire the kind of togetherness that ultimately leads to transcendent change. "This album is a love letter to Mother Earth and all the values we hold dear: Truth, trust, love, connection," says Kidjo. "For our own survival, we must recognize the humanity we all share and learn to live together. There is simply no other way."
The Grammy-winning Celia was recorded in New York and Paris, produced by David Donatien and mixed by Russell Elevado (D'Angelo, Kamasi Washington). Over the course of 10 popular songs from Cruz's extensive catalog, but with special emphasis on her 1950s work, Angelique's voice soars in lockstep with a superb presentation of rhythmic touchstones that delve deep into the history of music from Africa and its influence on the music of Cuba. Her rendition of the 1980 Talking Heads classic "Remain in Light" was recorded with superstar producer Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Rolling Stones, Beyoncé), who reinterprets classics like "Crosseyed and Painless", "Once in a Lifetime" and 'Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)' and reimagines them with electrifying rhythms, African guitars and layered backing vocals.
Kidjo's star-studded album DJIN DJIN won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Album in 2008, and her album OYO was nominated for the same award in 2011. In January 2014, Angélique's first book, a memoir titled Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music (Harper Collins) and her twelfth album EVE (Savoy/429 Records) were released to critical acclaim. EVE won the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 2015, and her historic orchestral album Sings with the Orchestre Philharmonique Du Luxembourg (Savoy/429 Records) won a Grammy for Best World Music Album in 2016.
Angelique has performed this genre-bending work with several international orchestras and symphonies, including the Bruckner Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Philharmonie de Paris. Her collaboration with Philip Glass, IFÉ: Three Yorùbá Songs, made its US debut in a sold-out concert with the San Francisco Symphony in June 2015. In 2019, Angelique joined Philip Glass for the world premiere of his latest work Symphony #12 "Lodger", a symphonic reinterpretation of the David Bowie album of the same name, in a sold-out performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition to this new orchestral concert, Angelique continues to tour the world with her four-piece band, performing the high-energy concerts for which she has become famous.
Angelique also travels the world as a UNICEF and OXFAM ambassador, campaigning for children. At the 2019 G7 summit, French President Macron appointed Kidjo as spokesperson for the AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) initiative, which aims to help close the financing gap for female entrepreneurs in Africa. She has also founded her own charity organization.