Nigerians have expressed shock after Grammy organisers released a list of Africans that have won the award ahead of its 66th Grammy Awards.
Shockingly, the two Nigerian superstars, Tems and Wizkid were omitted in the list.
The 66th award will take place on February 4.
According to the list, Miriam Makeba, the late South African singer, remained the first from Africa to win a Grammy award. Sade, the pop singer, followed in the list, making her the first Nigerian to win the global award while Burna Boy is the most recent and last Nigerian to win the prestigious gong.
Below are the 10 winners from Africa, according to the Grammys:
- Miriam Makeba (South Africa) — Best Folk Recording (with Harry Belafonte) – 1966
- Sade Adu (Nigeria/UK) — Best New Artist – 1986
- Ali Farka Touré (Mali) — Best World Music Album – 1994
- Cesária Évora (Cape Verde) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2004
- Youssou N’Dour (Senegal) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2005
- Angélique Kidjo (Benin/France) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2008
- RedOne (Morocco) — Best Dance/Electronic Album – 2010
- Tinariwen (Mali/Algeria/Libya) — Best World Music Album – 2012
- Burna Boy (Nigeria) — Best Global Music Album – 2021
- Black Coffee (South Africa) – Best Dance/ Electronic Album — 2022
The development raises questions regarding the parameters used by the Grammys to make the list.
However, while clarifying Wizkid and Burna Boy’s Grammy status, the award organisers wrote: “Femi Kuti, King Sunny Adé, Babatunde Olatunji, and his rival WizKid had all received GRAMMY nods before Burna Boy became the first Nigerian male artiste to grab a golden gramophone for an original work. The Afrobeats megastar earned the prize for Best World Music Album in 2021 for his album Twice as Tall.”
