Entertainment

Behold, Credentials Of Five Nigerian Grammy Award Winners

Published

7 years ago

May 17, 2019

The Recording Academy Grammy Award is the most respected award every musician aspires to earn as testament to the impact of their career fortunately we have some Nigerian born Grammy Winners, but you probably haven’t heard about them because it takes a rigorous research to find out some of these artistes as some are foreign based with just blood ties to the country while others are old and probably no longer in the entertainment industry.
Some might have the illusion that it is due to their racial differences as to why Nigerians or Africans are not really nominated or awarded the Grammy Award, but as it says, it’s just an illusion because the Grammys had the African culture at heart when they started the world music category over the years thereby striking off any illusion of racism and gives a clear picture for Africans who decide to pitch into the recording academy to include a proper category typifying new fashioned African sounds.
So with thorough search and research we bring to you the five Nigerians who have won these prestigious awards.
Sikiru Adepoju:- He is the master of the talking drum and many other Yoruba percussion instruments. Born in Eruwa, Nigeria, he hails from the traditional lineage of Yoruba talking drummers culturally referred to as Ayan which means one who has descended from drummers lineage.
He began playing under the tutelage of his father, Chief Ayanleke Adepoju at the age of six along with his brothers, Saminu and Lasisi. Sikiru accompanied the family’s talking drum ensemble for several years.
After moving to Sanfransisco Bay area in 1915, Sikiru joined the influential and pioneering Nigerian percussionist, Babatunde Olatunji and his drums of passion. This marked a lengthy period of high productivity from Sikiru which saw him recording and performing throughout the world until a year before Olatunji’s death in 2003.
During this period, he was introduced to grateful dead Drummr, Mickey Hart who had called Sikiru “The Mozart of the talking Drum” and employed him on many of his personal projects, including the award winning albums, Planet Drum (1991) and Global Drum Project, (2009).
Sade Adu: This is the queen of the list. She has four Grammys in her inspirational career and they were won in 1986, 1994, 2002 and 2011. Born Helen Folasade Adu on January 16, 1959 in Ibadan Nigeria and raised in London by her English mother, the singer and musician developed several interests as a teen, including singing, fashion design and modeling.
She sang with a few local band s before singing with Epic Records and recording her first album, Diamond Life in 1984, a huge hit in her native England also had mass appeal across the pond, thanks to such singles as ‘smooth operator’. In 1986 she won a Grammy award for Best New artiste. Sade’s stronger than pride and love Deluxe established her as top selling soul and pop artiste.
She took a new route with her 2000 album, ‘Lovers Rock’ which was released Eight Years after love Deluxe and incorporated a more mainstream sand. The recording and particularly the chart topping single ‘ helped her win over new audiences. Two years later, the album and ensuring tour inspired her first live recording, Lovers Live. Sade returned to the studio and released her sixth album in February 2010, ‘soldier of love’.
Seal: Seal is very Nigerian and even visited the country recently. He has four Grammy Awards, winning three in 1996 and one in 2011. Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel was born in London England on February 13, 1963 of Nigerian heritage. He went on to score a major UK hit ;kilter.
Before releasing his debut album in 1991, he had become an internationally renowned singer and song writer with albums like ‘Human being’ and hits ‘crazy,’ ‘prayer for the dying’ and ‘kiss from a Rase’ which won multiple Grammy Awards.
He was married to Super model and Television host Heidi Klum for several years.
Kevin Olusola: Kevin is a ‘beat boxer’ in the renowned acapella group, pentatonix and has won three Grammy Awards in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He picked up an award alongside his acapella band, pentatonix taking home the award in the arrangement, instrumental or acapella category for their medley “Deft Punk’s Get Lucky”.
Lekan Babalola: Lekan is a Conga player with two Grammy Awards to his name. He won the awards in 2006, and 2009. Born in Lagos State Nigeria where he began playing the Conga at a young age, he has released seven albums and jointly won two Grammy Awards.
Twice Grammy Award winning Nigerian percussionist, Lekan Babalola is well known for his innovation, musical style, using his native Yoruba tongue infused with traditional music, Afrobeat and Funky dance overtones.
However, some Nigerian Icons have also been nominated for this award. The likes of Sunny Ade, Wizkid, Timaya, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, Femi Kuti and Seun Kufi who is the latest Nigerian to make the coveted compilation to an extent of even landing a Grammy night performance.

Entertainment

‘Lie From The Pit Of Hell,’ Family Debunks Pete Edochie’s death Rumours

Published

2 weeks ago

February 13, 2026

The Tide

The family of veteran Nollywood actor, Pete Edochie, has dismissed viral rumours circulating on social media claiming that the film icon is dead.

Reacting to the reports in a video shared on his Instagram page on Tuesday, the actor’s eldest son, Leo Edochie, described the claim as false and malicious.

“I’ve been receiving text messages and calls over the nonsense post by some people that our father, Chief Pete Edochie, is dead. It is a lie from the pit of hell,” he said.

Leo added that the actor is alive and in good health, condemning those responsible for spreading the rumour.

“Our father is alive, hale and hearty. And if you wish someone dead, two things usually happen. The person will live very long and you will die before him. Shame to all of you,” he said.

The rumour had sparked concern among fans before the family’s clarification.

Entertainment

‘Mother’s Love’ Challenges Nigerian’s Film Portray Of Motherhood

Published

2 weeks ago

February 13, 2026

The Tide

Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde critiques Nollywood’s lack of mother-daughter stories ahead of her directorial debut, ‘Mother’s Love.’ See the cast and 2026 release date.

Nollywood veteran actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde is making her directorial debut with a different and sharper focus. Speaking recently with Newsmen,, the screen icon highlighted a glaring void in the industry’s catalogue, which is the authentic reality of mother-daughter relationships.

“We don’t have too many films that explore or showcase the relationship between mothers and daughters,” Omotola said during the interview, describing the subject as something deeply personal to her.

Speaking honestly about raising her first daughter, she admitted she had only one mode at the time, which was discipline. “I didn’t do a good job,” she said plainly, explaining that she understood motherhood strictly through control, not softness or emotional openness.

At the centre of Mother’s Love is Adebisi, a sheltered young woman from a wealthy home whose life is shaped by her father’s rigid control. Her first taste of freedom comes through NYSC, where distance from home allows her to begin discovering who she is outside her family’s expectations. She forms a friendship with a young man from a more modest background, and through him, starts to see the world and herself differently.

But the emotional core of the film isn’t Adebisi’s rebellion. It’s her mother. Long after being presented as quiet and compliant, she slowly reveals a resolve when her daughter’s safety and future are threatened. As secrets surface and buried grief comes into view, Mother’s Love becomes less about youthful independence and more about maternal sacrifice, unspoken trauma, and the emotional costs of survival inside a patriarchal home.

The Tide Entertainment reports that the film doesn’t shy away from weighty themes by including PTSD, unresolved grief, and social inequality at the centre of the story. It is far removed from the soft-focus sentimentality that often defines Mother’s Day-style narratives.

It also marks Omotola’s directorial debut, a significant moment considering how long she has shaped Nollywood from the front of the camera. She stars in the film alongside a mix of familiar faces and newer talent, including Ifeanyi Kalu, Olumide Oworu, and Noray Nehita.

Beyond the film itself, Omotola’s interview touched on a tension that has been simmering in Nollywood for a while now: how movies are marketed in the age of TikTok. Addressing the growing expectation for actors and filmmakers to create viral dance content to promote their work, she didn’t mince words. The pressure, she said, is exhausting and unnatural.

For her, the industry wasn’t meant to function this way. Still, she was careful not to judge anyone else’s approach. Everyone invests differently, carries different risks, and should be allowed to promote their films however they see fit.

“Do whatever you can do. It’s exhausting, it’s not natural. For me, the film industry is not supposed to be like that. We are encouraging nonsense if we are doing that. It doesn’t mean that whoever is doing it is wrong.”

Her comments arrive not long after the public back-and-forth between Kunle Afolayan and Funke Akindele over marketing styles, a debate that quickly turned into a proxy war between prestige storytelling and viral strategy. Omotola’s stance sits somewhere calmer. She understands the shift social media has brought, but she’s also clear about her own boundaries.

Omotola’s critique about the lack of mother-daughter stories isn’t unfounded. In Nollywood, mothers often exist as symbols rather than people. They’re either saintly figures who pray endlessly for their children or villains whose cruelty drives the plot forward. What’s missing is intimacy, the negotiations, and the regrets. The love that exists alongside resentment and misunderstanding.

Films rarely sit with the emotional complexity of women raising daughters in systems that also failed them. There’s little room for mothers who made mistakes but are still trying, or daughters who love their mothers while questioning the damage they inherited. Mother’s Love attempts to occupy that space, offering a more grounded portrayal that reflects lived experience rather than archetypes.

That’s where the film’s potential impact lies, in the decision to centre a relationship that Nollywood has largely flattened. If it works, it could open the door for more stories that treat motherhood as a lived, evolving reality rather than a fixed moral position.

Mother’s Love, directed by and starring Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, had its world premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2025. The film is set for a nationwide cinema release in Nigeria on March 6, 2026.

Entertainment

Funke Akindele’s Behind The Scenes Crosses ?1.77bn

Published

2 months ago

January 9, 2026

The Tide

Funke Akindele’s Behind The Scenes becomes Nollywood’s highest-grossing film of 2025, earning ?1.77bn in under four weeks.

Multi-award-winning actress and producer Funke Akindele has done it again, and this time, the numbers speak louder than applause.

Her latest film, Behind The Scenes, has officially emerged as the highest-grossing Nollywood film of 2025, pulling in an astonishing ?1.767 billion in less than four weeks.

The Tide Entertainment reports that Funke Akindele Makes Box Office History as Behind The Scenes Crosses ?1.77bn
Earlier in its release cycle, the film’s distributor, FilmOne Entertainment, revealed that Behind The Scenes smashed five opening-weekend records, including the highest single-day gross ever recorded on Boxing Day, with ?129.5 million in one day. That announcement already hinted that something unusual was unfolding.

Reacting to the milestone, FilmOne described the moment as both surreal and communal, crediting audience loyalty for pushing the film to the top spot once again as the number-one movie of the weekend. And that sentiment feels accurate. This wasn’t just ticket sales; it was momentum.

What makes this achievement even more striking is that Behind The Scenes is Funke Akindele’s third film to cross the ?1 billion mark. Before now, there was A Tribe Called Judah, and then Everybody Loves Jenifa, a film that didn’t just open big, but went on to become the highest-grossing Nollywood film of all time. At this point, it’s no longer a fluke. It’s a pattern.

Part of Behind The Scenes’ success lies in strategy. The film enjoyed advanced screenings on December 10 and 11, quietly building curiosity and conversation before its nationwide release on December 12. By the time it officially hit cinemas, audiences already felt like they needed to see it.

Then there’s the cast. The film brings together a lineup that feels deliberately stacked: Scarlet Gomez, Iyabo Ojo, Destiny Etiko, Tobi Bakre, Uche Montana, and several others. Familiar faces, strong fan bases, and performances that kept word-of-mouth alive long after opening weekend.

Still, beyond timing and casting, there’s something else at work here. Funke Akindele understands Nigerian audiences. Their humour, their pacing, their emotional buttons. She doesn’t guess, she calculates, experiments, listens, and refines. That understanding has slowly turned into box-office dominance.

Behind The Scenes crossing ?1.77 billion isn’t just another headline; it’s confirmation. Funke Akindele has moved from being a successful actress to becoming one of the most reliable commercial forces Nollywood has ever produced. Three-billion-naira films don’t happen by luck. They happen when storytelling, business sense, and audience trust align.

And right now, that alignment seems firmly in her hands.