CONCERT

Carnegie Hall
Angélique Kidjo and Friends: Remain in Light

Trailer for this performance...

"Three-time Grammy winner Angélique Kidjo returns to Carnegie Hall with an all-star band and some very special guests for the debut performance of her reimagined take on the Talking Heads’ classic 1980 album, Remain in Light. Kidjo takes unforgettable songs such as “Crosseyed and Painless,” “Once in a Lifetime,” and “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On),” reinterpreting them with electrifying rhythms, African guitars, and layered backing vocals."

"Three-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today, a creative force with 13 albums to her name. TIMEmagazine has called her "Africa's premier diva," the BBC has included her in its list of Africa's 50 most iconic figures, and The Guardian listed her as one of 2011's 100 most inspiring women in the world. She is also the first woman included in Forbes' list of the Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa. Kidjo is the recipient of the prestigious 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum and the 2016 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award.

As a performer, Kidjo's striking voice, stage presence, and fluency in multiple cultures and languages have won respect from her peers and expanded her following across borders. She has cross-pollinated 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.

Kidjo's newest project is a reinterpretation of Talking Heads' classic 1980 album, Remain in Light, produced by Jeff Bhasker. After its premiere performance at Carnegie Hall, she will take the musical extravaganza to concert halls and festivals across the globe, including the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

Her star-studded Djin Djin won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2008; Õÿö was nominated for the same award in 2011. Her 12th album,Eve, was released to critical acclaim in 2014, earning Kidjo a second Grammy Award. Her historic, orchestral album Sings with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg won another Grammy for Best World Music Album in 2016. She has gone on to perform this genre-bending work with several international orchestras and symphonies, including the Bruckner Orchester Linz, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Philharmonie de Paris.

Along with her own wide-ranging catalogue, Kidjo has collaborated with virtually every major artist of the era, including Bono, Peter Gabriel, John Legend, Gilberto Gil, Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews, Philip Glass, Ziggy Marley, Henri Salvador, Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove, Dr. John, Cassandra Wilson, Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij, the San Francisco Symphony, and many others. In addition, her remarkable memoir, Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music, was published by HarperCollins in 2014 to universal acclaim.

A committed international activist, Kidjo has advocated on behalf of children as both a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and an Oxfam Global Ambassador. Her own Batonga Foundation is dedicated to the empowerment of young women and girls in Africa through secondary school and higher education.

Kidjo and her four-piece band are known worldwide as a truly unique and always dynamic live act, their high-energy set recently captured in a spectacular installment of PBS's Austin City Limits. Last year, Kidjo performed Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" at the dedication ceremony of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. She returned to the National Mall in January 2017 to co-headline the historic Women's March on Washington, performing a stunning rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" for the half-million people in attendance."