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Nigerian Superstar Tems Wins Big At The 67th Grammys

Nigerian singer Tems won the Best African Song Performance award at the 67th Grammys.

The singer who led the Nigerian contingent with three nominations won the prize for her single ‘Love Me Jeje’ in a category packed with Nigerian superstars.

It was a history-making night for the two-time winner who became the first Nigerian artist to win the category.

Other historic feats include Kendrick Lamar’s 5 wins which made him the second rapper since Chidish Gambino to win the Song of the Year and Record of the Year categories.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like US’ also won the Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, and Best Music Video awards to take his tally to 22 thus becoming the third rapper with the most Grammys.

Jay Z broke his tie (24) with Kanye West after winning for Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ which won the Album of the Year, Best Country Album, and also delivered the Best Country Duo Performance.

Beyonce’s three wins at the 67th Grammys extend her record as the artist with the most wins with 35.

See the full winners list below.

Record of the Year
“Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar

Album of the Year
“Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé

Song of the Year
“Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)

Best New Artist
Chappell Roan

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Daniel Nigro

Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical
Amy Allen

Best Pop Solo Performance
“Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Die With a Smile,” Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars

Best Pop Vocal Album
“Short n’ Sweet,” Sabrina Carpenter

Best Dance/Electronic Recording
“Neverender,” Justice and Tame Impala

Best Dance Pop Recording
“Von Dutch,” Charli XCX

Best Dance/Electronic Album
“Brat,” Charli XCX

Best Remixed Recording
“Espresso (Mark Ronson x FNZ Working Late Remix),” FNZ and Mark Ronson, remixers (Sabrina Carpenter)

Best Rock Performance
“Now and Then,” The Beatles

Best Metal Performance
“Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!),” Gojira, Marina Viotti and Victor Le Masne

Best Rock Song
“Broken Man,” Annie Clark, songwriter (St. Vincent)

Best Rock Album
“Hackney Diamonds,” The Rolling Stones

Best Alternative Music Performance
“Flea,” St. Vincent

Best Alternative Music Album
“All Born Screaming,” St. Vincent

Best R&B Performance
“Made for Me (Live on BET),” Muni Long

Best Traditional R&B Performance
“That’s You,” Lucky Daye

Best R&B Song
“Saturn,” Rob Bisel, Cian Ducrot, Carter Lang, Solána Rowe, Jared Solomon and Scott Zhang, songwriters (SZA)

Best Progressive R&B Album
“So Glad to Know You,” Avery*Sunshine
“Why Lawd?,” NxWorries (Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge)

Best R&B Album
“11:11 (Deluxe),” Chris Brown

Best Rap Performance
“Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar

Best Melodic Rap Performance
“3:AM,” Rapsody featuring Erykah Badu

Best Rap Song
“Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)

Best Spoken Word Poetry Album

“The Heart, the Mind, the Soul,” Tank and the Bangas

Best Jazz Performance
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Me,” Samara Joy featuring Sullivan Fortner

Best Jazz Vocal Album
“A Joyful Holiday,” Samara Joy

Best Jazz Instrumental Album
“Remembrance,” Chick Corea and Béla Fleck

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
“Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence,” Dan Pugach Big Band

Best Latin Jazz Album
“Cubop Lives!,” Luques Curtis, Zaccai Curtis, Willie Martinez, Camilo Molina and Reinaldo de Jesus

Best Alternative Jazz Album
“No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin,” Meshell Ndegeocello

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
“Visions,” Norah Jones

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
“Plot Armor,” Taylor Eigsti

Best Musical Theater Album
“Hell’s Kitchen,” Shoshana Bean, Brandon Victor Dixon, Kecia Lewis and Maleah Joi Moon, principal vocalists; Adam Blackstone, Alicia Keys and Tom Kitt, producers (Alicia Keys, composer and lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)

Best Country Solo Performance
“It Takes a Woman,” Chris Stapleton

Best Country Duo/Group Performance
“II Most Wanted,” Beyoncé featuring Miley Cyrus

Best Country Song
“The Architect,” Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves and Josh Osborne, songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)

Best Country Album
“Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé

Best Americana Performance
“American Dreaming,” Sierra Ferrell

Best American Roots Song
“American Dreaming,” Sierra Ferrell and Melody Walker, songwriters (Sierra Ferrell)

Best Americana Album
“Trail of Flowers,” Sierra Ferrell

Best Bluegrass Album
“Live Vol. 1,” Billy Strings

Best Traditional Blues Album
“Swingin’ Live at the Church in Tulsa,” The Taj Mahal Sextet

Best Contemporary Blues Album

“Mileage,” Ruthie Foster

Best Folk Album
“Woodland,” Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

Best Regional Roots Music Album
“Kuini,” Kalani Pe’a

Best Gospel Performance/Song
“One Hallelujah,” Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Erica Campbell and Israel Houghton featuring Jonathan McReynolds and Jekalyn Carr; G. Morris Coleman, Israel Houghton, Kenneth Leonard, Jr., Tasha Cobbs Leonard and Naomi Raine, songwriters

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
“That’s My King,” CeCe Winans; Taylor Agan, Kellie Gamble, Lloyd Nicks and Jess Russ, songwriters

Best Gospel Album
“More Than This,” CeCe Winans

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
“Heart of a Human,” Doe

Best Roots Gospel Album
“Church,” Cory Henry

Best Latin Pop Album
“Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” Shakira

Best Música Urbana Album
“Las Letras Ya No Importan,” Residente

Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album
“¿Quién Trae las Cornetas?,” Rawayana

Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)
“Boca Chueca, Vol. 1,” Carín León

Best Tropical Latin Album
“Alma, Corazón y Salsa (Live at Gran Teatro Nacional),” Tony Succar, Mimy Succar

Best Global Music Performance
“Bemba Colora,” Sheila E. featuring Gloria Estefan and Mimy Succar

Best African Music Performance
“Love Me JeJe,” Tems

Best Global Music Album
“Alkebulan II,” Matt B featuring Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Best Reggae Album
“Bob Marley: One Love — Music Inspired by the Film (Deluxe),” (Various Artists)

Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album
“Triveni,” Wouter Kellerman, Eru Matsumoto and Chandrika Tandon

Best Children’s Music Album
“Brillo, Brillo!,” Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

Best Comedy Album
“The Dreamer,” Dave Chappelle

Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording
“Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration,” Jimmy Carter

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
“Maestro: Music by Leonard Bernstein,” Bradley Cooper, Yannick Nézet-Séguin (London Symphony Orchestra)

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Includes Film and Television)
“Dune: Part Two,” Hans Zimmer, composer

Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media
“Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord,” Winifred Phillips, composer

Best Song Written for Visual Media
“It Never Went Away,” from “American Symphony”; Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)

Best Music Video
“Not Like Us” (Kendrick Lamar), Dave Free and Kendrick Lamar, video directors; Jack Begert, Cornell Brown, Sam Canter, Jared Heinke, Jamie Rabineau and Anthony Saleh, video producers

Best Music Film
“American Symphony” (Jon Batiste) Matthew Heineman, video director; Lauren Domino, Matthew Heineman and Joedan Okun, video producers

Best Recording Package
“Brat,” Charli XCX, Brent David Freaney and Imogene Strauss, art directors (Charli XCX)

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
“Mind Games,” Simon Hilton and Sean Ono Lennon, art directors (John Lennon)

Best Album Notes
“Centennial,” Ricky Riccardi, album notes writer (King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and Various Artists)

Best Historical Album
“Centennial,” Meagan Hennessey and Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer; Richard Martin, restoration engineer (King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and Various Artists)

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
“I/O,” Tchad Blake, Oli Jacobs, Katie May, Dom Shaw and Mark “Spike” Stent, engineers; Matt Colton, mastering engineer (Peter Gabriel)

Best Engineered Album, Classical
“Bruckner: Symphony No. 7; Bates: Resurrexit,” Mark Donahue and John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

Producer of the Year, Classical
Elaine Martone

Best Immersive Audio Album
“I/O (In-Side Mix),” Hans-Martin Buff, immersive mix engineer; Peter Gabriel, immersive producer (Peter Gabriel)

Best Instrumental Composition
“Strands,” Pascal Le Boeuf, composer (Akropolis Reed Quintet, Pascal Le Boeuf and Christian Euman)

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
“Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Jacob Collier, Tori Kelly and John Legend, arrangers (Jacob Collier featuring John Legend and Tori Kelly)

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
“Alma,” Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johanye Kendrick and Amanda Taylor, arrangers (säje featuring Regina Carter)

Best Orchestral Performance Award
“Ortiz: Revolución Diamantina,” Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)

Best Opera Recording Award
“Saariaho: Adriana Mater,” Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Fleur Barron, Axelle Fanyo, Nicholas Phan and Christopher Purves; Jason O’Connell, producer (San Francisco Symphony; San Francisco Symphony Chorus; Timo Kurkikangas)

Best Choral Performance
“Ochre,” Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
“Rectangles and Circumstance,” Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion

Best Classical Instrumental Solo
“Bach: Goldberg Variations,” Víkingur Ólafsson

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
“Beyond the Years — Unpublished Songs of Florence Price,” Karen Slack, soloist; Michelle Cann, pianist

Best Classical Compendium
“Ortiz: Revolución Diamantina,” Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer

Best Contemporary Classical Composition
“Ortiz: Revolución Diamantina,” Gabriela Ortiz, composer (Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chorale)

Best American Roots Performance
“Lighthouse,” Sierra Ferrell

Best Rap Album
“Alligator Bites Never Heal,” Doechii

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Tems and Runtown In Scintilating Prformance at Spotify Surround Sound in Lagos

Spotify brought fans closer to Tems and Runtown across two nights of Surround Sound in Lagos, inviting selected Premium listeners based on their listening behaviour to experience the artists and music they care about in an intimate, in-the-round setting.
Held at Livespot in Lagos on 25 and 26 September, the performances brought two distinct catalogue stories into the room. Tems revisited For Broken Ears, while Runtown placed Mad Over You at the centre of a career-spanning set.

Surround Sound is Spotify’s live performance format, launched from Sub-Saharan Africa, which brings artists and fans together at close range and captures those performances as full-length music films for Spotify. Lagos provides the cultural context for these stories, with Nigerian artists and listeners at their centre.

Tems performed For Broken Ears tracks including Ice T and Damages, alongside earlier singles Mr Rebel and Try Me and later material such as Love Me JeJe and What You Need, tracing different chapters of her catalogue.

Ahead of the performance, she reflected on the beginnings of that journey: “I remember making Free Mind on my bed, on my laptop, experimenting with chords and seeing what stuck. The first two chords sounded so good, and it ignited melodies in me. Those melodies I made on my bed are what is in the song right now.”

Spotify’s relationship with Tems also reaches back to that period. In September 2020, shortly after the release of For Broken Ears, she became the third artist to join Spotify’s RADAR Africa programme, following South African singer Elaine and rapper Willy Cardiac. Six years later, Surround Sound revisited that early chapter of her catalogue in Lagos.

During the performance, Tems turned towards the audience and invited them to sing along, making the fans’ voices part of the experience. The following night, Runtown opened with Lagos to Kampala and Gallardo, moving through For Life, International Badman Killa and Unleash. The set also included Kini Issue, drawing together different parts of his catalogue.

Mad Over You became a shared moment between artist and audience. Runtown performed the song during the set before returning to it a second time to close the show, with fans singing along.

Speaking ahead of the performance, Runtown said: “This is the first time in 10 years I am performing with my band, and I am looking forward to seeing my fans.”

Spotify’s September 2026 analysis offers context for the continuing relationship with this music. Of the listeners who played For Broken Ears in January 2022, 21.6% also listened in August 2026. Meanwhile, Mad Over You appeared in more than three million user-created playlists at the time of the analysis.

Surround Sound connected that existing relationship with an opportunity to experience the artists live. There was no public ticket sale; Spotify invited selected Premium listeners directly through the platform, using listening behaviour to identify fans for the experience.

The live room is intentionally intimate and has a fixed capacity,” said Rifumo Mdaka of Spotify. “We use listening signals to reach selected Spotify Premium listeners in Lagos directly rather than running a public ticket sale. The aim is to create a close artist-fan experience while keeping the room suitable for the performance and film capture.”

Across both nights, Premium’s fan value took a tangible form: selected listeners had the opportunity to hear familiar music performed up close, with the audience’s responses becoming part of the experience.Both performances were filmed for Spotify.

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Davido, Rema, Fally Ipupa To headline Afro Nation Portugal 2027

Afrobeat icon Davido, Rema and Fally Ipupa will headline Afro Nation Portugal 2027, with Omah Lay, Victony and other stars also confirmed for the festival, continuing Nigeria’s dominant run at one of the world’s biggest celebrations of Afrobeats and Amapiano. The festival takes place in Portimão from 9 to 11 June 2027, on the sands of Praia da Rocha, running about a month earlier than it has in recent years.

The first wave of roughly 30 confirmations describes Davido, Rema and Fally Ipupa as “three giants of African music,” all returning to the festival. Also confirmed for the Lit stage are Omah Lay, Odeal, Shenseea, Valiant, Victony, Bamby and Miimii KDS, with South Gidi (the live project from DJ Tunez and DJ Maphorisa featuring Wizkid and Mavo) closing out the final night.

The Piano People stage returns, led by amapiano pioneer Kabza De Small and duo TxC, with Dlala Thukzin joining as a special guest, alongside 031Choppa, 2woBunnies, Benzo, Thatohatsi, Uncool MC, W4DE, Xduppy B2B Al Xapo, Young Stunna and Zee Nxumalo.

The lineup extends a pattern that has defined Afro Nation Portugal since it launched in 2019 with Nigerian superstars taking the centre stage nearly every year. Past headliners have included Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Megan Thee Stallion, 50 Cent, Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj, with the festival credited with helping push Afrobeats and Amapiano onto global stages.

This year’s edition, the sixth, wrapped in July with Wizkid and Asake leading the lineup, alongside Burna Boy, who launched his album No Sign of Weakness from the festival’s beach stage in 2025. Uncle Waffles headlined the Piano People stage, with Gunna and Kehlani appearing as special guests.

Rema is no stranger to the show either; he headlined the 2024 edition alongside Asake, J Hus and Tyla, riding the global success of ‘Calm Down.’ Davido, meanwhile, returns to a festival he has previously headlined, while Fally Ipupa comes back after main-stage appearances in recent years, including 2024.

Since its debut, Afro Nation has expanded beyond Portugal to Ghana, Puerto Rico, Miami and Detroit, but the Portugal edition remains its flagship, drawing tens of thousands of fans from across the world each summer for a weekend built around African music.

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Charly Boy celebrates daughter’s engagement to a Woman

Veteran Nigerian entertainer Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, has publicly celebrated the engagement of his daughter, Adaeze, to a woman, drawing a wide range of reactions from Nigerians online. Charly Boy shared a video from the engagement ceremony on his Instagram page on Thursday, referring to the couple as his “beautiful Princess and her Husband” and asking his followers to extend their well wishes. “Folks, wish dem well for me,” he wrote.

Adaeze also announced the engagement herself, sharing a photo with her partner alongside the caption “WE’RE ENGAGED!” and the hashtag #mrsandmrsgray2027. She expressed excitement about the relationship in her post, writing, “Here’s to a lifetime of love, laughter, growth, and making beautiful memories together. I can’t wait for everything God has in store for us. Forever sounds even sweeter with you.”

The announcement quickly drew attention online, with reactions split between congratulatory comments and criticism, reflecting Nigeria’s broader social and legal climate around same-sex relationships, where such unions remain both criminalised and widely stigmatised. Adaeze was previously married to a man, Metu Anu, in a traditional wedding held in Abuja in February 2018, a union that later ended in divorce.

This isn’t the first time a member of the Oputa family has publicly navigated a same-sex relationship. Charly Boy’s other daughter, Dominique “Dewy” Oputa, is also known to be in a relationship with a woman, both daughters currently reside outside Nigeria.

Charly Boy, also known as Area Fada, has built a decades-long career and public persona around unconventional, often boundary-pushing views on social and cultural issues in Nigeria. He has spoken previously about surviving prostate cancer, being sexually abused by a nanny during his childhood, and long-standing tension within his own nearly 50-year marriage to his wife, Diane.

He has also addressed public speculation about his own gender expression and sexuality directly, arguing that embracing traits often associated with femininity does not diminish a man’s identity.

The entertainer has 10 children and 14 grandchildren in total, and has continued to speak openly about his family throughout his public career, even as his views have periodically placed him at odds with more conservative segments of Nigerian society.

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