The recently concluded 63rd edition of the Grammy Awards was a huge win for the Nigerian music industry as two heavyweights, Burna Boy and Wizkid, bagged awards.
Burna Boy won ‘Best Global Music Album’ for his album Twice as Tall, while Wizkid alongside American superstar Beyoncé, and her daughter Blue Ivy, won ‘Best Music Video’ for the song Brown Skin Girl.
Nigerians at home and abroad congratulated the duo for the milestone achieved. Also, the Nigerian government sent in their congratulatory messages.
While a lot of Nigerians believe that Wizkid and Burna Boy are the first Nigerians to win Grammy Awards, that is not the case.
A factcheck by ICIR, International Centre for Investigative Journalism, has shown that the Nigerian superstars have followed the footsteps of a few.
Sikiru Adepoju and Babatunde Olatunji in 1991, won a Grammy award ‘Best World Music Album‘ category for their work in the album Planet Drum produced by Mickey Hart.
Another Nigerian in 2006, Olalekan Babalola, a jazz percussionist, won a Grammy for his work on Cassandra Wilson’s album titled Loverly. He went on to win another Grammy award in 2009, for his work on Ali Farka Toure’s In the Heart of the Moon album.
Sade Adu, of Nigerian descent, won her Grammy in 1985 for the Best New Artiste category.
She bagged several Grammy awards in other categories in 1993, 2001 and, 2010.
