Temilade Openiyi, known popularly by her stage name Tems won her first-ever Grammy Award at the 65th Grammy night held on Sunday, February 5, 2023, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Tems made history as the third Nigerian and the first female from Nigeria to win the most prestigious entertainment award. She is now among the few African stars in history to have ever won the award.
Tems featured in some nominations, including the ‘Album Of The Year’ for her contribution to Beyoncé’s album ‘Renaissance,’ ‘Best Rap Song’ for her contribution to Future’s song ‘Wait For U,’ and ‘Best Melodic Rap Performance’ for her contribution in Future’s song ‘Wait For U.’
In 2020, Wizkid became the first Nigerian to win a Grammy Award, where he won ‘Best Music Video’ for his contribution to Beyoncé’s ‘Brown Skin Girl’. Burna Boy won the Global Music Album in 2021 for his fifth studio album ‘Twice As Tall’ and got nominated in the 2023 award for Best Global Music Performance for his song ‘Last Last’ and the Global Music Album category for his sixth studio album ‘Love, Damini.’
The 65th Grammy Award was filled with ground-breaking performances and emotional reactions from different entertainment figures who performed at the event and won many awards. The night saw history-making wins from Beyoncé and Petras and a major victory by a young jazz sensation. The First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden, was among the presenters.
Below are some highlights of one of the biggest nights in music history.
- Beyonce made history by winning four awards, making the most decorated artist of the night, and winning her 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd awards.
- Beyoncé won a record-breaking 32nd Grammy Award, overtaking the Hungarian-British Conductor George Solti, who held the record for more than 20 years with his 31 Grammy Awards.
- Viola Davis won the ‘Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording,’ making history as the 18th person to achieve the EGOT.
- Beyoncé failed again to win the coveted album of the year, which went to Harry Styles for his radio-friendly pop ‘Harry’s House.’ The 65th Grammy made it the fourth time she had failed to win the award.
- Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Adele dominated the nominations.
- Nigeria’s sensational singer Tems won her first-ever Grammy Award in the category ‘Best Melodic Rap Performance,’ for her contribution to Future’s song ‘Wait For U,’ which also featured Drake.
- With 88 nominations, Beyoncé became the second entertainment figure after her husband Jay-Z to have the most nominations in Grammy History.
- Kendrick Lamar was the second biggest nominee with eight nominations, while Adele and Brandi Carli tied in the third position with seven nominations each.
- Beyoncé’ failed again to win in any of the three biggest categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year).
- Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny made history with his first-ever nomination for the album of the year for a Spanish album.
- The Grammy event was hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, making it his third time hosting the event, while Randy Rainbow co-hosted the Premiere Ceremony.
- The audience at the ceremony was thrilled with scintillating performances from Bad Bunny, Brandi Carlile, Harry Styles, Lizzo, Luke Combs, Mary J. Blige, Sam Smith & Kim Petras, and Steve Lacy.
- Presenters were Cardi B, First Lady Jill Biden, James Corden, Billy Crystal, Viola Davis, Dwayne Johnson, Olivia Rodrigo, and Shania Twain.
- Nirvana received The Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Stephanie Economou received her first-ever Grammy for Best Videogame Soundtrack.
- Despite not being a rapper, DJ Khaled got nominated for ‘Best Rap Album’ for his album ‘God Did.’
