Duain Richmond and The Neighborhood Orchestra to Honor Fela Kuti with Special Live Event

Los Angeles will honor Fela Kuti's GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday, January 31st, with a special event at The Paramount. The performance on Saturday will also feature very special guests and a DJ set by MEKA.

Taking place after The Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards Ceremony, Duain Richmond (star of the Broadway show FELA!) and LA's multi-cultural ensemble The Neighborhood Orchestra will come together to honor the life and enduring legacy of Fela Kuti, as he becomes the first African musician to be awarded a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2012, Richmond played the role of Fela on Broadway and continued on subsequent touring productions and recent revivals of the production at Olney Theater Center near Washington D.C. in 2023 and Southwest Arts Center in Atlanta, GA in 2024. 

The Neighborhood Orchestra is a Los Angeles-based group dedicated to community activations and accessible shows for all ages and walks of life. The global ensemble has collaborated with actress Annie Gonzales (Jenni, Flamin' Hot, Relationship Goals), underground hip-hop legend Murs, multi-platinum producer Kosine, and more.

The city of Los Angeles played a critical role as the origin point of afrobeat music. Los Angeles native, Sandra Izadore, met Fela Kuti while his group Koola Lobitos performed at the NAACP Garden Party at the Ambassador Hotel in 1969.

Sandra, a Black Panther and black rights activist, opened Kuti's eyes to key figures in politics and activism such as Malcom X, Angela Davis, Huey Newton, and more and awakened his conscious mind to embrace blackism and speak out against political corruption and oppression in his home of Lagos, Nigeria. He would come to cultivate afrobeat and ignite a movement around the world that is more active than ever, using this music as a vehicle to speak out against social injustices and oppression.  

Beyond being the architect of afrobeat music, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was an uncompromising political artist, blending traditional Yoruba rhythms with jazz, funk, and highlife, and a catalog spanning more than five decades. 

Tickets for the event on Saturday are $25 and free to members of the Recording Academy. Doors are at 7:30 and the show begins at 8:30. For tickets and more information, please visit HERE. The Paramount is located at 2708 E Cesar E Chavez Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90033.