Nigerian singer Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has made history as the first Nigerian artist to win the Best African Music Performance award at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
The prestigious ceremony took place at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles, USA on Sunday, 2 February 2025.
Tems clinched the award for her song Love Me Jeje from her debut album Born in the Wild, triumphing in a category dominated by Nigerian stars, including Burna Boy and Asake.
This marks the second year of the category’s existence, following its introduction in 2024, when South African artist Tyla won for Water.
In her acceptance speech, Tems expressed gratitude, saying, “Dear God, thank you so much for putting me on this stage and bringing me this team.”
She dedicated the award to her mother, whose birthday coincided with the ceremony on February 3.
Despite her historic win, Tems missed out on two other nominations. Her song Burning was nominated in the Best R&B Song category, making her the first indigenous African artist to achieve such recognition, but the award went to SZA’s Saturn.
She was also in the running for Best Global Music Album, which was won by Matt B and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
At 29, Tems now joins the ranks of Burna Boy, who won Best Global Music Album in 2021 for Twice As Tall.
This marks her second Grammy win, having previously secured the Best Melodic Rap Performance award in 2023 for her contribution to Future and Drake’s hit song Wait for U.
