The Ghana Music Awards, currently known as the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music awards event in Ghana established in 1999 by a local event organizer and planner company known as CharterHouse to originally and primarily celebrate the "outstanding contributions of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

s to the growth and expansion of its associated industry". Held each April, May or June, the event is broadcast locally on

GHOne TV GH One TV is a Ghana-based entertainment TV channel, whose content includes lifestyle, music, fashion, series, children's programs, comedy, and tourism. It is now owned by Excellence In Broadcasting (EIB) Networks, which has broadcaster Bola Ray, ...

, GTV and/or

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

and outside Ghana on

Akwaaba Magic Akwaaba Magic is a Ghanaian digital satellite and general entertainment channel. Owned by pay-TV operator M-Net, the 24 hour channel offers a mix of locally produced content for the Ghanaian market ranging from Drama, Telenovela, Comedy, Music, D ...

satellite TV Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...

platform

DStv Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple audio, ...

and terrestrial TV platform

GOtv GOtv Africa is a pay television terrestrial service in sub-Saharan Africa owned by broadcaster MultiChoice. It mainly consists of African and international programming. History The terrestrial TV service was founded in October 2011 by MultiCho ...

. Prior to the launch of the Akwaaba Magic channel in 2021, the event was broadcast outside Ghana on channels 155 and 198 on DStv and on channel 110 on GOtv. In 2020, the event's precursor, the nominees jam, scheduled for April 4 at Jackson Park in

Koforidua Koforidua, also popularly known as K-dua or Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region in southern Ghana. Koforidua was founded in 1875 by migrants from Ashanti. It is also called New Juaben. The city has a settlement city proper popu ...

, was initially postponed and then cancelled to comply with a national directive on public gathering due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana The COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first two cases in Ghana were confirmed on 12 March 2020, when two infected ...

Trophy

The Ghana Music Awards trophy has been awarded in different forms over the years; with the current one unveiled before the 2019 edition of the event. It consists of a Gold Star plaque with a circular hole and strings on opposite faces, mimicking a guitar.

Artist of the Year

The ''Artist of the Year'' award is the highest and most prestigious of the awards given at the event given to the artist(s) adjudged by the CharterHouse, the VGMA Board and the general public as having the highest audience appeal,

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

online streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

and popularity. The artist(s) must have a released hit single/album during the year under review to qualify/be eligible. Past and present ''Artist of the Year'' award winners: *2000:

Daddy Lumba Daddy Lumba (born 29 September 1964) is a Ghanaian singer-songwriter and musician. Lumba was born Charles Kwadwo Fosu in a village called Nsuta Amangoase in the Sekyere Central District, near Mampong in the Ashanti Region. He is widely regarded ...

*2001:

Kojo Antwi Kojo Antwi, also known as "Mr. Music Man", is a Ghanaian Afro pop, highlife and reggae musical artist. Born Julius Kojo Antwi into a family of 13 siblings, he grew up in Darkuman a suburb of Accra. He has 22 albums to his name, with "Tom & Jerry" ...

*2002:

Lord Kenya Kainya (born 19 September 1978), known as Lord Kenya, is a former Ghanaian Hiplife artist who is currently an Evangelist. He is best known for his hits such as "Enyom No" and "Medo." About Lord Kenya was born to an Nzema father from Senzire and ...

*2003:

Kontihene Emmanuel Nana Appiah Boateng known by his stage name Kontihene is a Ghanaian hiplife musician. 'Aketesea' from his debut album ''Nyankonton'' won the ''Song of the Year Award'' during the 2003 edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards making him t ...

*2004: V.I.P *2005:

Bice Osei Kuffour Bice Osei Kuffour (born 17 November 1981) is a Ghanaian hiplife musician, known popularly by the name Obour, which means "stone" in the Akan language. He is the immediate past president of the Musicians Union of Ghana, an umbrella group that un ...

*2006:

Ofori Amponsah Samuel Ofori Amponsah (born March 2, 1974), also known by the name Mr. All 4 Real, is a Ghanaian singer-songwriter from Agogo, Ashanti Region, Ghana. Throughout his career, he has released fourteen solo albums, the most recent being "Million Dol ...

*2007:

Samini Emmanuel Andrews Sammini (born 22 December 1981 in Accra, Ghana), known by his stage name Samini (formerly as Batman Samini), is a Ghanaian Reggae and Dance hall recording artiste from Wa, Ghana. His genre of music is a melodious mixture of h ...

*2008:

Kwaw Kese Emmanuel Kofi Botwe , known by his stage name Kwaw Kese and popularly called Abodam (''craziness''), is a Ghanaian hiplife artist. Kwaw Kese is well known for his hit album ''Abodam 2007'', for which he won five awards at the 2008 edition of the ...

*2009:

Okyeame Kwame Kwame Nsiah-Apau (born 17 April 1976), known by his stage name Okyeame Kwame and nicknamed Rap Doctor, is a Ghanaian musician, songwriter, creative director and entrepreneur. Life and career Early life Apau was born in Kumasi, Ashanti Region ...

*2010: Sarkodie *2011: V.I.P *2012: Sarkodie *2013:

R2Bees R2Bees is a Ghanaian hip hop and hiplife duo from Tema made up of two cousins, Faisal Hakeem and Rashid Mugeez. They were nominated at the 2013 BET Awards. In March 2019, the duo released their third studio album ''Site 15''. Career 2007–2 ...

*2014:

Shatta Wale Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., (born 17 October 1984) is a Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artist. He is known by his stage name Shatta Wale, formerly Bandana. His best-known singles are "Dancehall King", "My level" and "We taking over" .He is also know ...

*2015:

Stonebwoy Livingstone Etse Satekla (born 5 March 1988), better known by his stage name Stonebwoy, is a Ghanaian Afropop, dancehall and reggae musician. He is the CEO of Burniton Music Group. He won the Best International Act: Africa category at the 201 ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

: E.L *2017:

Joe Mettle Joseph Oscar Nii Armah Mettle, recognised by his stage name Joe Mettle, is a Ghanaian gospel singer and songwriter. On April 8, 2017, he made history by being the first Gospel musician to win the coveted Artist of the year award at the 2017 Ghan ...

*2018:

Ebony Reigns Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng (16 February 1997 – 8 February 2018), known by her stage name Ebony Reigns, was a Ghanaian dancehall/Afrobeats artist known for her hit songs "Poison" and "Kupe". She was discovered by Bullet from Ruff n Smooth. Early ...

*2019: ''Unannounced'' *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Kuami Eugene Eugene Kwame Marfo (born 1 February 1997), who goes by the stage name Kuami Eugene is a Ghanaian High-life and Afrobeat singer-songwriter. He is signed to Lynx Entertainment, and is known for several songs, including "Angela", "Wish Me Well", "O ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

: Diana Hamilton *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

KiDi Dennis Nana Dwamena, better known as KiDi, (born August 18, 1993) is a Ghanaian high-life and afrobeats singer-songwriter. He is signed to Lynx Entertainment and is best known for his global hit single Touch It. The remix features American rapp ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

: ''Future event''

Locations

The inaugural ceremony in 1999 was held at the

National Theatre of Ghana The National Theatre was opened in 1992 to spearhead the Theatre movement in Ghana by providing a multi-functional venue for concerts, dance, drama and musical performances, screenplays, exhibitions and special events. In Ghana, theatre as an art ...

in Accra until 2004 when it moved to the

Accra International Conference Centre The Accra International Conference Centre is an events venue in Accra, Ghana. Other venues include the Ghana Trade Fair Center and the National Theatre, but the Conference Centre is the most popular due to its size and capacity as compared to th ...

(AICC), and it has been held there ever since. With the exception of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 editions of the event which were held at the Dome of the AICC, the event since the move to the AICC was held at its Main Hall until 2018. Since 2019, the event has been held at the Grand Arena (then/previously the New Dome) still at the AICC.

Notes

References

External links