Angélique Kidjo, called "Africa's premier diva" and named one of the most influential people in the world in 2021 by Time Magazine, makes her return to Ravinia to co-headline the Pavilion with Ravinia first-timer Meshell Ndegeocello. The two artists have collaborated together in tribute to salsa legend Celia Cruz, recording the song "La Vida Es Un Carnaval."

Kidjo is a Beninese-French singer-songwriter with five Grammy Awards to her name, and is known for her cross-pollinating 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. Ndegeocello won the 2021 Grammy for Best R&B Song with "Better Than I Imagined," and the American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist has "lent her unique blend of spacious melodies, rooted grooves and intricate fingerpicking to tracks by everyone from Madonna to Herbie Hancock and Robert Glasper" (The Guardian). "Across her own albums," The Guardian continues, "Ndegeocello has been honing this sound to create soulful music that interpolates R&B and hip-hop as much as the virtuosity of jazz."

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