Artist · chart history
Angelique Kidjo
Solo artist Cotonou
Angelique Kidjo is an artist from Cotonou. Angelique Kidjo has 16 chart appearances on 14 radio countdowns from 8 stations on RockLists, spanning 1994–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Once in a Lifetime”, which appears on 5 lists with a best position of #85. The station that charted Angelique Kidjo most often is WYEP (Pittsburgh, PA), with 8 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1996.
Angélique Kidjo, born in 1960 and hailing from Cotonou, has a voice that could shake the dust off the roof. By the mid-'90s her music was pulling jazz, zouk, gospel and Latin American sounds into one joyful whirl, sung in Fon, French, Yorùbá, Gen (Mina) and English, plus a personal language of her own that gave her song titles like "Batonga". She often draws on Benin's traditional Zilin vocal technique and on vocalese, which is why her records sound like nothing else in the world-music bins.
Ayé, from 1994, brought "Agolo", a bouncing, joyful groove that sounds like a street party in full swing, and Fifa, from 1996, gave the countdowns "Wombo Lombo", a whirling, hypnotic dance number. She kept moving: in 2018 her album Remain in Light put her stamp on "Once in a Lifetime".
The honors piled up along the way: a Danish Music Award in 1995, a MOBO Award in 2002, the rank of Commander of the National Order of Benin in 2008, Grammy after Grammy and the Polar Music Prize. Only one African artist got a Hollywood Walk of Fame star before she did, and she was the first of African ethnicity to receive one, and she sang at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games opening ceremony. Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Philip Glass, Bono, Yo-Yo Ma and Burna Boy are among her collaborators.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Angelique Kidjo on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Once in a Lifetime | 5 | #85 | – | 2018 | |
| 2 | Salala | 2 | #394 | – | – | |
| 3 | Voodoo Child | 1 | #256 | – | – | |
| 4 | Congoleo | 1 | #368 | – | – | |
| 5 | Batonga | 1 | #1092 | – | – | |
| 6 | Wombo Lombo | 1 | #64 | – | 1996 | |
| 7 | Move On Up | 1 | #83 | – | 2010 | |
| 8 | I've Got Dreams To Remember | 1 | #81 | – | 2010 | |
| 9 | Take It Or Leave It | 1 | #87 | – | 2021 | |
| 10 | Born Under Punches | 1 | #826 | – | – | |
| 11 | Agolo | 1 | #99 | – | 1994 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 469 | Once in a Lifetime | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years |
| 2024 | 826 | Born Under Punches | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs |
| 2023 | 670 | Once in a Lifetime | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 |
| 2022 | 394 | Salala | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s |
| 2021 | 87 | Take It Or Leave It | WYEP Top 91 Songs of 2021 |
| 2019 | 342 | Once in a Lifetime | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 |
| 2019 | 342 | Once in a Lifetime | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 |
| 2018 | 85 | Once in a Lifetime | WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2018 |
| 2010 | 81 | I've Got Dreams To Remember | WRSI Top 94 Songs of 2010 |
| 2010 | 83 | Move On Up | WEXT Top 97 of 2010 |
| 2009 | 256 | Voodoo Child | WYEP 913 Essential Songs |
| 2009 | 368 | Congoleo | WYEP 913 Essential Songs |
| 2009 | 605 | Salala | WYEP 913 Essential Songs |
| 2001 | 1092 | Batonga | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time |
| 1996 | 64 | Wombo Lombo | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996 |
| 1994 | 99 | Agolo | Triple J Hottest 100 of 1994 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about Angelique Kidjo.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.