Tonye Garrick (born 27 August 1983), simply known as Tonye is a British-born

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

singer and songwriter. Her a cappella song titled "''What About Us''?" was used at the Nigerian Youth Presidential debate in 2011. Born in England, Tonye was raised in France,

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and the United States of America where she dropped her job as a business consultant to pursue a career in music in 2013. In 2015, she released a marriage-themed single title " Ari Belema" which got her nominated in the "Most Promising Act" category at the

2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards The 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards was the 10th edition of the Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Wizkid won the most awards while Olamide received the most nominations with three across 39 award categories. Kiss Daniel won the Best New Act to Wat ...

. She is signed to Made Men Music Group since April 2016.

Growing up

Tonye is a native of

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

, South-South Nigeria. Her name " Tamunotonye" was given to her by her grandmother who is a native of Kalabari,

Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...

. She grew up listening to songs by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

and

Brenda Fassie Brenda Nokuzola Fassie (3 November 1964 – 9 May 2004) was a South African singer, songwriter, dancer and activist. Affectionately called MaBrrr by her fans, she is also known as the "Queen of African Pop" or the "Madonna of The Townships." Fas ...

before she developed her interest in music at the age of 7.

Early life and education

Born in England into the family of an Edo State father who was a diplomat and an

Anambra State Anambra () is a States of Nigeria, state in Nigeria. It is located in the South East (Nigeria), South-eastern region of the country. The state was created on 27 August 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State and Ri ...

mother, Tonye had most of her early life in Nigeria, Paris and the United States of America. She attended Vivian Fowler Memorial College and

Queen's College, Lagos Queen's College, Lagos, is a government-owned girls' secondary (high) school with boarding facilities, situated in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Often referred to as the "sister college" of King's College, Lagos, it was founded on October 10, 1927, when ...

where she completed her secondary school education. She holds a bachelor's degree in International Business & Fashion Merchandising after graduating from

Marymount University Marymount University is a Private university, private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington County, Virginia, United States. It was founded as Marymount College in 1950. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degre ...

Career

Prior to picking music as a profession, Tonye had previously worked for

UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...

Financial and

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

Touche Tohmatsu Limited as a

business analyst A business analyst (BA) is a person who processes, interprets and documents business processes, products, services and software through analysis of data. The role of a business analyst is to ensure business efficiency increases through their kno ...

. She dropped her corporate job for a career in music in 2013 and went on to release her first official single titled "Were Niyen" which was received to critical acclaim. On 2 October 2014, she released another song produced by Password titled "''Criminal''" which did well to gain grounds. In 2015, her song titled "''Abi Belema''" became popular and thus winning her a nomination at the

. She cites Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson,

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

and

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...

as her musical influences. In an interview granted to ''

Thisday ''This Day'' is a Nigerian national newspaper. It is the flagship newspaper of Leaders & Company Ltd., and was first published on 22 January 1995. It has its headquarters in Apapa, Lagos State. Founded by Nduka Obaigbena, the chairman and edito ...

Live'' on 21 June 2014, she said she is working on her debut studio album.

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrick, Tonye 1983 births Living people Singers from London Musicians from Edo State 21st-century Nigerian women singers Nigerian women singer-songwriters 21st-century Nigerian singer-songwriters Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls alumni Queen's College, Lagos alumni Marymount University alumni 21st-century Black British women singers 21st-century British women singers