1. Tyla gained international recognition after the release of her 2023 single "Water", which entered the top ten in multiple countries including her native South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
24 Facts About Tyla
1. 2.
Tyla is the youngest African artist in history to win a Grammy Award.
3.
Tyla Laura Seethal was born on 30 January 2002 in Edenvale, Gauteng, to a Coloured family with Indian, Indo-Mauritian, Zulu, and Irish ancestry.
4.
Tyla grew up in Johannesburg, Gauteng, and graduated from Edenglen High School in 2019, where she was the Head of Culture.
5.
Tyla has 3 siblings, an older sister, Whitney, and a younger brother and sister, Tyrese and Sydney.
6.
Tyla was discovered by her first manager, Garth von Glehn, who organized her first recording sessions.
7.
Tyla stated that she spent every weekend of her final year of high school in the recording studio.
8.
In late 2019 after finishing high school, Tyla self-released her debut single, "Getting Late" featuring production from Kooldrink, which achieved national success.
9.
Tyla had been studying towards a degree in mining engineering, and after much persuasion and "a lot of crying", her parents had agreed to let Tyla take a year off university to attempt to lift her music career off the ground.
10.
Tyla then signed a recording contract with Epic Records through a joint venture with Fax Records in the United States in May 2021.
11.
Tyla followed up her debut single with the singles "Overdue" in October 2021 and "To Last" in November 2022.
12.
Tyla then joined Chris Brown as the opening act for his Under the Influence Tour.
13.
Tyla released the song "Water" in July 2023 as the lead single from her self-titled debut studio album.
14.
Tyla became the first and youngest-ever South African soloist in 55 years to enter the US Billboard Hot 100 with "Water", following Hugh Masekela's "Grazing in the Grass" in 1968.
15.
Tyla performed "Water" live on The Bianca Show in Sweden and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the United States.
16.
Tyla was then featured on a remix version of "Girls Need Love" by Summer Walker, released as part of the latter's Girls Mix extended play in October 2023.
17.
Tyla performed a medley of "Water" and "Truth or Dare" on the season 24 finale of The Voice on 19 December 2023.
18.
At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2024, Tyla won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance with "Water", becoming the youngest-ever African artist to win a Grammy Award.
19.
Tyla's self-titled debut album was officially released via Fax and Epic Records on 22 March 2024.
20.
Tyla received widespread critical acclaim, and was a top-25 album in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
21.
Tyla received the most nominations at the 18th Metro FM Music Awards in South Africa, with six nods.
22.
Tyla went on to win the most awards at the 2024 BET Awards, tying with Usher and Victoria Monet at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, where she delivered a live performance of "Jump" for the first time alongside Gunna and Skillibeng.
23.
On 11 October 2024, Tyla released the deluxe edition of her self-tilted debut studio album comprising three additional songs including "Push 2 Start".
24.
Tyla has said that her dream is to become the first global pop star from Africa.