SINGERS from Nigeria

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Nigerian Singers of all time. This list of famous Nigerian Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Sade (1959 - )

With an HPI of 58.48, Sade is the most famous Nigerian Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 51 different languages on wikipedia.

Helen Folasade Adu (Yoruba: Fọláṣadé Adú [fɔ̄láʃādé ādú]; born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade ( SHAH-day), is a Nigerian-born British singer, known as the lead vocalist of her band Sade. One of the most successful British female artists in history, she is often recognised as an influence on contemporary music. Her success in the music industry was recognised with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2002, and she was made Commander in the 2017 Birthday Honours. Sade was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, and was brought up in England from the age of four. She studied at Saint Martin's School of Art in London and gained modest recognition as a fashion designer and part-time model before joining the band Pride in the early 1980s. After gaining attention as a performer, she formed the band Sade, and secured a recording contract with Epic Records in 1983. A year later the band released the album Diamond Life, which became one of the era's best-selling albums and the best-selling debut by a British female vocalist. In July 1985, Sade was among the performers at the Live Aid charity concert at Wembley Stadium, and the next year, she appeared in the film Absolute Beginners. The band released their third album (Stronger Than Pride) in 1988, and a fourth album (Love Deluxe) in 1992. The band went on hiatus in 1996 after the birth of Sade's child. After eight years without an album, the band reunited in 1999 and released Lovers Rock in 2000. The album departed from the jazz-inspired inflections of their previous work, featuring mellower sounds. The band produced no more music until the release of Soldier of Love, ten years later. Since then, they have released two songs, "Flower of the Universe" for the soundtrack of Disney's A Wrinkle in Time, and "The Big Unknown", part of the soundtrack of Steve McQueen's film Widows.

2. Yemi Alade (1989 - )

With an HPI of 22.24, Yemi Alade is the 2nd most famous Nigerian Singer.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), who is better known as Yemi Alade, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Her music is a mixture of Afropop, highlife, dancehall, pop and R&B, and has been of influence in several countries across Africa. She sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, French, Swahili and Portuguese. Alade won the Peak Talent Show in 2009 after which she signed to Effyzzie Music Group, and had a hit with her single "Johnny" in 2014. Following the releases of her albums King of Queens and Mama Africa, Alade embarked on world tours consecutively. In 2016, she debuted on Billboard as No 4 on "Next Big Sound" Chart She won the MTV African Music Awards for Best female in 2015 and 2016 consecutively and was nominated for Artiste of the Year in 2015, making her the first female to win the MAMAs for Best female consecutively twice and nominated for Artiste of the Year. In 2015, Alade was the first African female to be nominated for the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) and she was nominated for the BET awards for Best International Act: Africa in 2015 and 2016. Alade is also applauded for her creative and overwhelming stage performances, fashion and music videos, She has won The Headies Award for Best Performer twice, 2018 and 2019. The slot was initiated at The Headies 2018 and she was the first artiste to win the category. Alade is also the second Nigerian and Afrobeats artist and the first female to hit 100 million views for a single video on YouTube after Davido. On 9 June 2020, Alade was mentioned to be among the forefront artists/musicians from across the world to perform at The Global Goal: Unite for our future sponsored by the Global Citizen aimed to highlight the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic especially in the most remote places in Africa and across the world. On 27 June 2020, Yemi Alade performed in the Global Goal: Unite for Our future alongside Miley Cyrus, Shakira, J Balvin, Jennifer Hudson, Coldplay, Usher, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Christine and the Queens and Chloe X Halle. In 2022, Yemi Alade bagged a Grammy nomination for her song "Dignity" with Angelique Kidjo. She alongside Kidjo were nominated for the category of Best Song for Social Change Social Merit Award. She likewise has a Grammy certificate for her collaboration with Beninese music icon, Angelique Kidjo on her Mother Nature album. She also is the first afrobeats artiste to get a Latin Grammy nomination for the song "Cónexion Total" with Bomba Estéreo, Both the song and (Deja) the album it featured in was nominated for the awards. In 2022, The Scoove Africa ranked Yemi Alade "The Best Stage Performer in Nigeria" for the year 2022. Emma Dabiri, in an article published on Norient, named Alade as a revolutionary artist "simply rediscovering some of the freedoms to which colonialism and its immediate legacy once barred them access".