The biggest music event, the Grammy Awards, will be going down with its 66th edition in Los Angeles on Sunday, with a converging of the best of music stars from Africa and around the world, and this year’s edition won’t be any different.

Since the 1960s, the recognition of exceptional projects by African artists has been a tradition, marked by South Africa’s Mariam Makeba becoming the first African artist to receive the Grammy Awards.

Here are 14 African acts that have won Grammy awards.

Makeba (South Africa)

In 1966, South Africa’s Miriam Makeba, also known as Mama Africa, became the first African recording artist to win the Grammy Awards, just seven years after the award was first held.

Makeba won Best Folk Record for her album “An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba,” with American singer Harry Belafonte at the 8th Grammy awards .

Sade Adu (Nigerian-British)

Helen Folasade Adu was born in Ibadan, to a Yoruba-ancestry father and an English mother. She was the lead vocalist for her band, Sade, which bears her name.

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In 1986, she won the ‘Best New Artist’ Grammy Awards. She also won the ‘Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group with Vocal’ for “No Ordinary Love” (1993), the ‘Best Pop Vocal Album for’ “Lovers Rock” (2001), and the ‘Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group with Vocals’ for “Soldier of Love” (2011) at the Grammy Awards.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo (South Africa)

In 1988, South Africa’s male choral group won the ‘Best Traditional Folk Recording’ for the song ‘Shaka Zulu’.

The group received 17 nominations and won four more Grammy awards: Best Traditional World Music Album for “Raise Your Spirit Higher” (2004), Best Traditional World Music Album for “Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu” (2009), Best World Music Album for “Live: Singing for Peace Around the World” (2013), and Best World Music Album for Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration (2018).

Ali Farka Touré (Mali)

Regarded as one of Africa’s most internationally renowned musicians, Toure received a total of five nominations, winning three times at the Grammy Awards.

He won the Best World Music Album for “Talking Timbuktu” (1994) and the Best World Music Album for “In The Heart Of The Moon” (2005). Following his death in 2006, he was posthumously awarded Best Traditional World Music Album for “Ali and Toumani” (2010) at the 53rd Grammy Awards.

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Cesária Évora (Cape Verde)

Évora started as a club singer in the port city of Mindelo and became famous as the “Barefoot Diva,” performing without shoes in tribute to the poor.

She received six nominations, winning the Best Contemporary World Music Album for “Voz dámor” (2004) at the 47th Grammy Awards.

Youssou N’Dour (Senegal)

Ranked as one of the greatest singers of all time, N’Dour helped develop a style of popular Senegalese music known by all Senegambians.

He won the Best Contemporary World Music Album for “Egypt” (2005).

RedOne (Morocco)

Nadir Khayat popularly known as ‘Red One’, is considered one of the most influential record producer artists in contemporary music.

He has eight Grammy Awards nominations, winning Best Dance Recording for “Poker Face” (2010) and Pop Vocal Album for “The Fame Monster” (2011).

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Tinariwen (Mali/Algeria/Libya)

The group consists of individuals from the nomadic Tuareg people of the Sahara.

They won the World Music Album for “Tassili” (2012) at the 54th Grammy Awards.

Wouter Kellerman (South Africa)
Kellerman is a South African flautist, producer, and composer who explores the versatility of the instrument and fuses classical and contemporary sounds.

He won the Best New Age Album for “Winds Of Samsara” (2015) and the Best Global Music Performance for “Bayethe” (2022) at the 57th and 64th Grammy Awards respectively.

Angélique Kidjo (Benin)

Beninese-French artiste Angélique Kidjo is the African artist with the most Grammy Awards.

She won in 2007, 2015, 2016, 2020, and 2022 in the categories: ‘Best Contemporary World Music Album,’ Best World Music Album (won three times), and Best Global Music Album,” respectively.

Burna Boy (Nigeria)

Nigerian Afrobeats star Damini Ogulu (Burna Boy) is the first Nigerian male artist to win the Grammy Awards for an original work.

Burna Boy won the Best Global Music Album for “Twice As Tall” (2021). At the 66th Grammy Awards, he received four nominations.

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Wizkid (Nigeria)

Ayodeji Balogun ‘Wizkid’ is regarded as one of Nigeria’s greatest musical acts.

Wizkid won the Best Music Video category, for his collaboration on the track “Brown Skin Girl” with Beyoncé and Blue Ivy at the 63rd Grammy Awards in 2021.

Black Coffee (South Africa)

“The DJ/producer’s victory represents a shift around ideas of what African musicians are capable of, from traditional genres and folk music to the high-tech world of electronic dance music,” Grammy stated.

Black Coffee won the Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for “Subconsciously” (2022) at the 64th Grammy Awards.

Tems (Nigeria)

Temilade Openiyi popularly known as Tems won the Best Melodic Rap Performance for “WAIT FOR U” (Future, Drake & Tems) at the 65th Grammy Awards.