Music stars from across Africa stormed the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Sunday night, for the 17th edition of the famous Headies Awards.
The show, which was held on Sunday, April 27, 2025, marked a big return to Nigeria after spending two years abroad in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
The event, themed “Back to Base” and “Apologetically African,” was planned to celebrate the best sounds and talents across the continent between April 1, 2023, and July 31, 2024.
This year’s edition came with two brand-new categories, Soundtrack of the Year and Best Performer (Live), widening the stage for more artistes to get noticed for their work.
However, there are reports that the event later turned messy. Poor time management and technical issues forced the organisers to end the night abruptly.
By 3:32 am Nigerian time, many big awards like Best R&B Single, Best Collaboration, Lyricist On The Roll, Best Rap Album, Best Inspirational Single, and even Best Performer (Live) were yet to be announced.
In the middle of the drama, Nollywood queen, Funke Akindele, smiled home with a major win. Her blockbuster movie “A Tribe Called Judah”, which broke box office records in 2024, bagged the Soundtrack of the Year award, a fresh addition to the Headies categories.
Although the organisers promised to announce the remaining winners later, many fans and artistes left the venue with mixed feelings.
Below is the full list of announced winners so far:
Best Recording of the Year
Tems – Burning
Best Vocal Performance (Male)
Lojay – Billions
Best Vocal Performance (Female)
Liya – I’m Done
Artiste of the Year
Odumodublvck
Rookie of the Year
Zerry DL
Next Rated
Odumodublvck
Songwriter of the Year
Chimamanda Pearl Chukwuma: Vision (Qing Madi) –WINNER
Song of the Year
Lonely at the Top – Asake
Music Video of the Year
Egwu: Director Pink
Best Street-hop Artiste
Mohbad: Ask About Me
Best R&B single
Big Baller: Flavour
Afrobeats Album of the Year
‘HEIS’ – Rema
Viewers’ Choice Award
Chike & Mohbad – Egwu
Best Rap Single
Cast: Shallipopi and Odumodublvck
Producer of the Year
Ozeba: London
Digital Artiste of the Year
Davido
Soundtrack of the Year
A Tribe Called Judah (Abbey Wonder & TCJ)
Best East African Artiste of the Year
Juma Jux (Tanzania)
Best Central African Artiste of the Year
Innoss’B (DRC)
Special Recognition Awards
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor
Alex Okosi
Amaju Pinnick
Kcee
Humanitarian awards
Temitola Adekunle Johnson
Mitchell Mukoro
