Fela Kuti Grooves Onto the Big Screen.

Fela Kuti influenced everyone from Michael Jackson to Paul McCartney. Now the Nigerian Afrobeat star’s life – which already inspired a Tony-winning Broadway musical – is headed to the big screen in Finding Fela, a new documentary from director Alex Gibney (Enron, The Armstrong Lie). “Fela was a glorious character because he was deeply contradictory,” says Gibney, who sifted through 1,200 hours of unseen footage for the film, which premiered at Sundance. Finding Fela also has interviews with the late artist’s children as well as fans like McCartney and Questlove. Adds producer Stephen Hendel, “It’s one of the great stories of music as the weapon.”

- Rolling Stones (February 13, 2014).

Fela Kuti was a prophet with popularity at "home" and beyond. I didn't know megastars like Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney were also influenced by the great musician.

I remember when Lakeside came to perform in Nigeria back then in the late 1970s. In an interview with journalists, the band's lead vocalist (Mark Wood) was quoted as saying that he ordered for all of Fela's albums (to take back to the United States) after listening to "Water no Get Enemy".

Younger generation of stars have since been known to love the man's Afro-beat genre of music. Heard that the first time Jay-Z listened to a CD of Fela, he wondered aloud excitedly where (in Africa) the musician could be located but he was told the man had died. He was to subsequently team up with a couple of other megastars to produce the now popular Broadway Musical "FELA!"