A few weeks ago, the media space was agog with congratulatory messages to Nigerian music superstar Tems for adding a Grammy Award to her collections. The talented singer won her first-ever Grammy at the recently-concluded 2023 Grammy Award.
Widespread jubilations and celebrations occurred across several social media platforms in Nigeria and many other countries with different captions that portrayed Tems as the first-ever Nigerian female entertainer to win a Grammy. However, a few days after the media hype, some people have countered and disputed the news that Tems is the first Nigerian female Grammy winner.
Further checks revealed that two Nigerian female entertainers – Helen Folashade Adu, popularly known as Sade Adu, and Cynthia Erivo, won Grammys many years before Tems. Although they are not residents of Nigeria, they have strong ties with Nigeria. Also, Yemi Alade and Niniola are Grammy Winners (by association) before Tems.
Here, we take a look at these Grammy-winning artists who came before Tems.