Its recognition of brilliant projects by African
\nartistes dates back to the 1960s when South Africa\u2019s Mariam Makeba became the first African act awarded a Grammy.<\/p>\n
Here are 12 African acts that have won Grammy awards.<\/p>\n
Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo (Republic of Benin, 5 Grammys)<\/p>\n
Beninese-French artiste Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo has won the Grammy Awards five times. Kidjo won in 2007, 2015, 2016, 2020, and 2022 in the categories; \u2018Best Contemporary World Music Album,\u2019 Best World Music Album( clinched thrice) and Best Global Music Album,\u201d respectively.<\/p>\n
The vocal powerhouse won the Grammys for the albums \u201cDjin Djin, Eve, Sings, Celia, and Mother Nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ali Farka Tour\u00e9 (Mali, 3 Grammys)<\/p>\n
Malian musician Ali Farka Tour\u00e9 bagged the Grammy Awards three times. Tour\u00e9 won the \u2018Best Global Music Album\u2019 Grammy in 1995 for the \u2018Talking Timbuktu\u2019 album.<\/p>\n
In 2006, a few weeks before his demise, the Malian multi-instrumentalist won his second Grammy for \u2018Heart Of The Moon,\u2019 album with Toumani Diabate.<\/p>\n
His post-humous album,\u201d Ali and Toumani,\u2019 released in 2010, won Tour\u00e9 his third Grammy in the category \u201cBest Traditional World Music Album.\u2019<\/p>\n
Mariam Makeba (South Africa, 1 Grammy)<\/p>\n
Fondly called Mama Africa, Makeba, a South African music
\nicon, won the Grammy award in 1966 with the joint album \u201cAn Evening with Makeba\/Belafonte.\u201d Makeba, alongside mentor Henry Belafonte, won in the \u201cBest Folk Recording\u201d category.<\/p>\n
Sikiru Adepoju (Nigeria, 2 Grammys)<\/p>\n
Adepoju, a two-time Grammy Award winner, hit the
\nspotlight internationally in 1991 when he won the Grammy Award in the \u201cBest World Music Album\u201d category for his contribution to American percussionist Mickey Hart\u2019sHart\u2019s 1991 \u201cPlanet Drum\u2019Drum\u2019 album.<\/p>\n
In 2008, Adepoju bagged another Grammy alongside musical acts Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, and Giovanni Hidalgo for the
\nAlbum\u2019Album\u2019 Global Drum Project\u201d in the \u201cBest Contemporary World Music Album\u2019Album\u2019 category.<\/p>\n
Babatunde Olatunji (Nigeria, 1 Grammy)<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s Olatunji won a Grammy Award in 1991, also in
\nthe \u201cBest World Music Album\u2019Album\u2019 category. Olatunji, now deceased, worked alongside thirteen other musicians on the Mickey Hart 1991 \u201cPlanet Drum\u201d album,
\nscoring all fourteen acts a Grammy.<\/p>\n
Owuor Arunga (Kenya, 3 Grammys)<\/p>\n
Famous for his trumpeting skills in the popular Macklemore and Ryan Lewis\u2019sLewis\u2019s record, \u201cThrift Shop, which scored him two Grammy awards in 2014 in the categories\u201d Best Rap Song\u201d and \u201cBest Rap Performance,\u201d Arunga won his third Grammy for his contribution on the music groups\u2019sgroups\u2019s 2012 \u201c\u201dThe Heist\u201d album which scored a Grammy in 2014 for \u201cBest Rap Album.\u201d<\/p>\n
Youssou Ndour (Senegal, 1 Grammy)<\/p>\n
Senegalese act Ndour bagged a Grammy award in 2005 in the \u201cBest Contemporary World Music Album\u2019Album\u2019 category for the project \u2018Egypt.\u2019<\/p>\n
Tems (Nigeria, 1 Grammy)<\/p>\n
Nigerian artiste Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, scored a Grammy in 2023 in the \u201cBest Melodica Rap Performance\u2019 category for her contribution to American rapper Future\u2019sFuture\u2019s hit single \u201cWait For U.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard Bona (Cameroon, 1 Grammy)
\nCameroonian bassist Richard Bona won a Grammy in 2002 in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category for the album \u201cSpeaking Of Now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wizkid (Nigeria, 1 Grammy)<\/p>\n
Wizkid
\nNigerian artiste Wizkid made headlines in 2021 when he won a Grammy award for his collaborative effort on the 2019 Beyonce hit record \u201cBrown Skin Girl.\u201d Wizkid won in the \u2018Best Music Video\u2019 category.<\/p>\n
Soweto Gospel Choir \u2013 (South Africa, 3 Grammys)<\/p>\n
The famous South African gospel music group is a three-time-winning Grammy award choir. They won the \u2018Best Traditional World Music Album\u2019 awards at the 2007 and 2008 Grammys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Considered the highest form of honour for musicians, the Grammy Awards, since its inception in 1954, has continued to spotlight and celebrate musical geniuses globally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":34734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[7,14,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-34737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-music","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"yoast_head":"\n