South African artists have collectively won a total of 33 Grammy Awards from 112 nominations. South African recording artist Miriam Makeba is widely reported as having been the first African Grammy winner when she won Best Folk Recording for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba in 1966 at the 8th Annual Grammy Awards, [1] although Phil Ramone, who was born in South Africa and moved to the United States as a child, won a Grammy a year earlier. Makeba won her award while fighting the apartheid regime in South Africa during an exile from the country which lasted from 1960 until 1990. [2]
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South Africa has produced thirteen Grammy Award winners. [a] Ramone, a sound engineer, [4] is the most honoured with fourteen accolades, followed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo with five and the Soweto Gospel Choir with three. [5] In 2022, Black Coffee won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Subconsciously at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, making him the first African to win the category for an original work. [2] Nomcebo Zikode won her first Grammy in 2023, alongside Wouter Kellerman and Zakes Bantwini for "Bayethe". [6] In 2024, Tyla was named the youngest African soloist to win a Grammy after receiving the inaugural Best African Music Performance award for "Water" at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. [7] [8] Nominated artists include Hugh Masekela and Trevor Noah. [9]