South African singer Tyla won the Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance at the 2026 awards for her hit single Push 2 Start, though she was unable to accept the award in person due to an overwhelming number of red carpet interviews that delayed her appearance at the Premiere ceremony of the Grammys.
The award, presented at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, California, is the second Grammy for the 24-year-old megastar, who won the award in 2024 for the same category for her hit song Water.
Push 2 Start has become one of the year’s biggest streaming hits from the continent. The track has amassed more than 440-million streams on Spotify alone and tens of millions of views on YouTube, giving it a significant presence internationally.
In a competitive field, Tyla beat four other nominees in the Best African Music Performance category. These included Love”by Burna Boy, With You by Davido featuring Omah Lay, Hope & Love by Eddy Kenzo and Mehran Matin and Gimme Dat by Ayra Starr featuring Wizkid.
Tyla stunned on the red carpet in a creation styled by Ronnie Hart, a Dsquared2 2013 Fall/Winter collection dress designed with a feather skirt that led into a dramatic train and a low-dipping neckline adorned with gold embellishments.
The Best African Music Performance category, introduced recently to reflect the influence of African music globally, has quickly become one of the most competitive.
Host Trevor Noah, who was nominated in the category of Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording for Into the Uncut Grass, lost to the Dalai Lama, who won in the category for his Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the Grammys Premiere ceremony.
TimesLIVE
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