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- Zakes Bantwini, Wouter Kellerman and Nomcebo Zikode are officially Grammy Award winners.
- The trio won the Best Global Music Performance award for their hit Bayethe at music's most prestigious event in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
- "This moment right here to anybody who's in Africa just proves and affirms that every dream is valid," Zakes Bantwini said in his acceptance speech.
Zakes Bantwini, Wouter Kellerman and Nomcebo Zikode are officially Grammy Award winners.
The trio won the award for the Best Global Music Performance in the Global Music category for their hit Bayethe at music's most prestigious event in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
"Thank you so much. This is such a beautiful moment on the road to sharing South African music and culture with the world," Kellerman said during his acceptance speech.
Zakes Bantwini added: "I just want to say, we are coming from Africa, South Africa. And this moment right here to anybody who's in Africa just proves and affirms that every dream is valid."
Taking to the mic after her colleagues, Zikode sang a portion of Jerusalema before thanking her family and team.
WE WON THE GRAMMY! Congrats @wouterkellerman @ZakesBantwiniSA @Nomcebozikode Best Global Music Performance- Courtesy Jen Su reporting via CBS | GRAMMYs for Entertainment News #GRAMMYs #Grammy #SouthAfrica #wouterkellerman #zakesbantwini #nomcebozikode pic.twitter.com/Q3wBsf9ys4
— Jennifer Su (Jen Su) (@jennifer_su) February 5, 2023
This is Kellerman's second Grammy award and both Zakes Bantwini's and Zikode's first.
"Unkulunkulu uNumber 1 (God is Number 1)," Zakes Bantwini wrote, retweeting the winning announcement.
"We won the Grammy for the Best Global Music Performance for our song 'Bayethe' Thanks so much to everybody for all the support - this is for the whole of South Africa! Awesomeness," Kellerman wrote, also sharing the news on his social media.
Unkulunkulu uNumber 1 #GRAMMYs https://t.co/VXdm2fXkZ9
— Zakes Bantwini (@ZakesBantwiniSA) February 6, 2023
We won the Grammy for the Best Global Music Performance for our song ‘Bayethe’ Thank so much to everybody for all the support - this is for the whole of South Africa! Awesomeness @ZakesBantwiniSA @Nomcebozikode #africatotheworld #grammy #grammy2023 pic.twitter.com/qK31QPBHCl
— Wouter Kellerman (@wouterkellerman) February 5, 2023
After the event, Zikode shared photos of herself, Zakes Bantwini and Kellerman posing with their trophies. She captioned the glamorous snaps: "Your Best Global Music Performers of 2023 from South Africa"
In an interview with News24 ahead of the awards show, Zakes Bantwini predicted their win, saying, "I'm very optimistic that we're going to come back with it. I have such a very positive vibe about it. Somehow, I'm content."
The musician added that he already felt like a winner:
READ MORE | Zakes Bantwini on Grammy Awards: 'To me, I've already won'
Zakes Bantwini, Kellerman and Zikode's win marks the tenth time a Grammy Award will come home to South Africa.
In 2022, South African DJ and music producer Black Coffee won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Subconsciously.
