Grammy-winning Nigerian singer Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has received the prestigious Diamond Award at Billboard’s inaugural Global Power Players event, held on Wednesday at Shoreditch House in East London.
Tems was honoured alongside British music icon Sir Elton John and EMPIRE founder and CEO Ghazi Shami. The award was presented by incoming Billboard Africa editor, Nkosiyati Khumalo.
In her acceptance speech, Tems said:
“Being African and a musician is a whole new world. I feel like Billboard has been really supportive of not just African music but the entire scene and culture.
This is a great honour, especially as African music is reaching unprecedented heights, and Billboard is playing a key role in pushing that forward.”
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Sir Elton John received the Creators’ Champion Award, while Ghazi Shami was presented with the Clive Davis Visionary Award by Nigerian rapper and YBNL founder, Olamide Adedeji, popularly known as Baddoo.
The event also marked the launch of Billboard’s first-ever UK Power Players chart.
Tems continues to make history as the most-awarded African artist in Billboard’s history. In 2023, she became the first Nigerian woman to be honoured at Billboard’s Women in Music event.
