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The Grammy Award is often tagged as the biggest music award in the world. The award event is held annually to celebrate artistes and musicians worldwide whose music and artistic contributions have had a major impact on the music calendar year. In recent times, a year has never gone without a Nigerian artiste bagging an award or a nomination, to no one’s surprise. But before the recent successes of artistes like Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Tems, Nigerian artistes have been nominated for or won the Grammy Awards.
This year, the winners of the 66th Grammy Awards will be announced on the 4th of February but as we await the main event, let’s take a trip down memory lane to see a look at some of the iconic Grammy moments with Nigerian artists.
Some Past Winners
Sade Adu
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Sade Adu is a British-Nigerian singer, songwriter, composer and the lead vocalist of the band, Sade, which formed in 1982. The band released their debut album, “Diamond Life,” in 1984 and achieved widespread success. In 1986, “Diamond Life,” won the Grammy for Best New Artist. She also won the award with “Lovers Rock” in the Best Pop Vocal Album category in 2002. She also won a few others in other years.
Babatunde Olatunji
Babatunde Olatunji was a Nigerian drummer, educator, social activist, and recording artist from Ajido, a town in present-day Nigeria. A prominent figure in the global music scene, his 1959 album, “Drums of Passion,” became a landmark recording in the world music genre. The album’s success played a crucial role in introducing African music to Western audiences and influencing a generation of musicians. In 1991, Babatunde Olatunji was awarded a Grammy for Best World Music Album for his album “Planet Drum.” The project also featured various percussionists from different parts of the world and celebrated the diversity of global percussion traditions.
Sikiru Adepoju
Sikiru Adepoju is a Nigerian drummer, percussionist and recording artist from Eruwa, a town in Oyo State. Adepoju worked and toured with music maestros like Ebenezer Obey, Babatunde Olatunji, O.J. Ekemode aka “Orlando Julius”, and other prominent musicians. In 2008, Adepoju won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album for his contribution to the title album of Mickey Hart’s Global Drum Project at the 51st annual Grammy Awards.
Recent Successes
Burna Boy
In his 2019 album “African Giant,” Burna Boy expressed his aspirations to win a Grammy Award. In 2020, he was nominated alongside Angélique Kidjo who won the Best World Music Award and dedicated it to Burna Boy. In 2021, his album “Twice As Tall” won the Grammy Award for the Best World Music Album category. His other albums, “Love, Damini” and “I Told Them” are Grammy-nominated with the latter charging for an award this year.
Wizkid
Wizkid’s impressive career was beautified in 2021 when he won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for his collaboration with Beyonce, Saint Jhn and Blue Ivy Carter on the global song, “Brown Skin Girl.” In 2022, his outstanding album, “Made in Lagos” deluxe edition was also nominated for Best Global Music Album category.
Tems
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Tems won her first Grammy Award in the Best Melodic Rap Performance category for featuring on “Wait For U” by Future featuring Drake. Tems has been on an impressive run since debuting her professional career with her EP “For Broken Ears.” She was nominated in 2023 for the Album of the Year category for featuring in Beyonce’s “Rennaisance”.
This year, the Recording Academy debuts a new category specially for Africans tagged Best African Music Performance. The nominees for this category are Asake and Olamide‘s “Amapiano” in the category of Best African Music Performance, Burna Boy who got four nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards in the Best Melodic Rap Performance, Best Global Music Album, Best Global Music Performance, and Best African Music Performance categories, Davido who got 3 nominations in the Best Global Album, Best African Performance, and Best Global Music Performance categories and Ayra Starr got nominated for her first Grammy Award in the category of Best African Music Performance for her song “Rush”. CKay earned a Grammy nomination for his work on Janelle Monáe‘s “The Age of Pleasure,” which was nominated for Album of the Year. Fireboy DML got a Grammy nomination in the Album of the Year category, for his contributions to Jon Batiste‘s ‘World Music Radio.
This new category testifies to the glory of African music and Afrobeats on the global stage, and we cannot wait to see Nigerian (and African) artistes bring home the Grammy Awards.
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