25 stars who dominated 2025

In 2025, a mix of established veterans and rapidly rising talents dominated the Nigerian entertainment scene, driven by major film and music releases, significant awards recognition,  and scandals. These stars dominated the entertainment scene with chart-topping anthems, held sold-out concerts and featured in various viral moments. As always, the Nigerian entertainment scene was nothing short of electric in 2025. Commanding global attention and pushing creative boundaries, The Nation spotlights the standout Nigerian stars who defined 2025 across the various spheres of entertainment.

Regina Daniel

Regina Daniel’s influence in 2025 is one that can’t be ignored for many reasons. Though she didn’t release a new film neither did she feature in the biggest blockbusters of the year but her home and marriage were constant stories in the media almost all through the year. Earlier reported cracks in her marriage finally opened and gave way for separation between her beautiful self and her husband, Ned Nwoko. Her separation from Nwoko still remains one of the nastiest scandals that rocked 2025.

Adekunle Gold

For 2025, Adekunle Kosoko aka Adekunle Gold enjoyed a steady and impactful year. All year round, Adekunle Gold had one musical performance or song to keep the public and listening audiences reminded of his presence on the music front. His projects and collaborations earned deep listener loyalty and his music continued to be featured on key playlists and curated lists throughout the year. His latest album ‘Fuji’ was released to rave reviews, and drove social media trends across platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. His daughter’s appearance and introduction ahead of his performance with an orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London, United Kingdom, was also well received by fans.

Omoni Oboli

A year after hosting her son’s wedding and welcoming her first grandchild, Nollywood star, Omoni Oboli returned to make a statement on the Nigerian film scene. Shuttling between Canada and Nigeria, Oboli took a backseat from acting to focus on producing some of the big films that rocked 2025. She focused on YouTube as the streaming platform and earned herself several success stripes. This year marked a significant boost in her visibility and influence within the industry, even as an established veteran, largely through her masterful maximisation of the Omoni Oboli TV YouTube channel. By focusing more on production than acting, she released over 30 movies on the platform, regularly uploading new content and driving subscriber growth while amassing millions of views. Her consistent strategy—blending full-length films, teasers, trailers, and live premieres—catapulted the channel to Nigeria’s number one spot.

Her creation, ‘Love in Every Word’, and its sequel, ‘Love in Every Word: The Wedding’ became viral sensations, with the original alone surpassing 30 million views, and becoming the most searched Nollywood movie of the year on Google. The two romantic dramas explored love, culture and personal growth and created memes, and slangs like ‘Achalugo’ and ‘Odogwu.’ 

Davido

In 2025, David Adeleke aka Davido released his fifth studio album, ‘5ive’ to a highly anticipating fan and audience that thronged streaming platforms to make the album one of the most streamed Nigerian projects of the year, with over 320 million streams on Spotify alone. With this, Davido’s unmistakable influence became obvious. The success of the album overtook major contemporaries and confirmed his enduring commercial clout. The project earned a record-breaking opening day, having about 15 million global Spotify streams within 24 hours of its release.

Funke Akindele

In 2025, Funke Akindele further pushed herself to remain Nollywood’s most bankable creative force. Rising from her previous success, Akindele entered 2025 raking in millions of Nigerian Naira and smiling to the bank. All through the year, Akindele featured in some of the biggest Nollywood blockbusters and kept raking in volumes of awards for her success and record breaking feats. She further consolidated her dominance with the movie, ‘Behind the Scenes’, which was released in December 2025. The movie is already a massive opener with over N200m in its first weekend, making it the biggest opening of 2025 in Nollywood.

Beyond acting, her influence showed in how her movies shaped conversations around women, class mobility, marriage, and modern Nigerian family life.

Asake

Asake began 2025 on a slow pact after which he refused to sign another deal with Olamide’s YBNL after the expiry of his previous deal. Soon after, he was enmeshed in a family scandal after his father took ill and called him out for neglecting him. Some of his managers also took swipes at him at different points but despite all these, Asake remained focused on making a deep and sustained  impact in 2025. Soon, he became a feature in several international fashion events and featured on several records – both locally and internationally. With this feat, he remained consistent among the most streamed artists on Nigerian Spotify and secured multiple albums inside the platform’s Top 10.

Advertisement

His catalog enjoyed heavy rotation all year round and he kept performing at live shows and festivals.

In rounding off his year, he collaborated with energy drink manufacturer, Red Bull, to stage an iconic performance at the Red Bull Symphonic in New York, United States. The performance remains not only his major highlight of the year but also a historic feat as he emerged the first African to grace the Symphonic stage. 

Priscilla Ojo-Mkambala

Priscilla Ojo, now Priscilla Mkambala is the beloved daughter of Nollywood actress and producer, Iyabo Ojo. Making her name as a social media influencer and a trendsetter, Priscilla further heightened her leverage as a powerhouse in lifestyle, beauty, and fashion influence on social media in 2025. 2025 is incomplete without the mention of Priscilla, whose lavish wedding to Tanzanian singer Juma Jux was remains the year’s biggest social media wedding. Priscilla’s influence was recognised continentally when she was crowned Top Beauty Influencer at the 2025 African Golden Awards. Her voice in fashion and lifestyle spaces helped shape consumer trends and opened doors to major brand partnerships. She also signed a number of brand ambassador deals and earned her little tot an endorsement, all in the course of the year.

Wizkid

For many of his fans and cult-followers on social media, Ayodeji Balogun, aka Wizkid, reclaimed the top spot as Nigeria’s most-streamed artiste on Spotify in 2025. He reclaimed the spot without many seeing him coming. He also topped the Spotify Wrapped list for Nigeria while his album, ‘Morayo,’ was named the most-streamed album of the year in Nigeria.

Wizkid’s dominance extended beyond local borders. His album was also cited as among the most-streamed in Sub-Saharan Africa on Apple Music’s year-end chart. It’s no doubt that in 2025, Wizkid collaborated with more artists than he has done in previous years, hence, earning him more influence and dominance on the music space globally. 

Burna Boy

Damini Ogulu, aka Burna Boy, continued in his trademark footsteps of cementing his heavyweight status on the music scene and creating fuss and scene in his private and celebrated lifestyle. His album ‘No Sign of Weakness’ surpassed 250 million streams on Spotify, making it one of the year’s top-performing Nigerian releases.

Burna Boy cemented his growth on the international scene as he was highlighted as Nigeria’s most-exported artist globally, reflecting his strong international appeal and wide Diaspora reach. As a Grammy-winning figure and global ambassador of afrobeats, his tours, festival appearances, and cross-continental collaborations kept him at the frontlines of African music.

However, as expected by many, Burna Boy grabbed the headlines in 2025 for some wrong reasons. Despite becoming a constant feature and appeal to the international audience, he punctured the growth when he embarrassed and sent a couple out of his show for sleeping and in another space, kicking a fan trying to get a hug. 

Rema

Divine Ikubor, aka Rema, began 2025 strong coming off his huge success in 2024. He emerged as the most streamed Nigerian artist globally on YouTube Music in the first quarter of 2025 with over 220 million streams, led by enduring hits such as ‘Calm Down’ and new releases like ‘Baby (Is It a Crime)’. Throughout the year, his blend of afrobeats and global pop sensibilities kept him visible on international charts and playlists. Rema also made headlines purchasing mansions and expensive cars in the course of the year.

Uzor Arukwe

In 2025, the career Uzor Arukwe has been building for over a decade reached an impressive height. Arukwe earned widespread acclaim for his commanding screen presence and ability to fully embody complex, layered characters. Arukwe’s performances in 2025 releases like ‘Love in Every Word: The Wedding’, where he portrayed the confident, affectionate ‘Odogwu,’ and Chief Odogwu in ‘Asa and Odogwu’, and ‘Behind the Scenes’ cemented his reign in Nollywood.

Bambam

Bamike ‘Bambam’ Olawunmi-Adenibuyan, who first gained recognition for her participation in the 2018 Big Brother Naija Season 3, has masterfully transitioned from reality TV stardom to established acting credibility in Nollywood. 2025 will go down in her memory as the year she earned widespread respect for her authentic, emotionally resonant acting performances.

In 2025, her big break came early with her lead role as Chioma in Omoni Oboli’s ‘Love in Every Word’, opposite Uzor Arukwe. Throughout 2025, she appeared in other notable projects including ‘Meadowbrook Hearts’, ‘Trap of Temptation’, ‘My Christmas Love Story’, ‘Dappa’, ‘Wild Fire’, and ‘The Virgin Bride,’ which showcases her growing range. 

Gaise Baba

Advertisement

For 2025, Gospel artiste, Akinade Ibuoye, aka Gaise Baba achieved mainstream digital dominance in an unexpected twist to the Nigerian music narrative. His viral anthem, ‘No Turning Back II’ became Nigeria’s most-viewed music video on YouTube in 2025, accumulating over 41 million views and placed Gaise Baba ahead of many of his contemporaries. The song soon became a regular tune at parties and churches.

Peller

Habeeb Hamzat aka Peller, had a good year as a TikToker in Nigeria. Aside from the obvious fact that he had a breakthrough year on TikTok where he has over 13 million followers, he raked in so much funds and got featured on various gigs including films and cameo appearances in music videos. His on and off relationship with another social media personality, Jarvis, also propped up his influence, especially when he proposed marriage. Towards the end of 2025, Peller got himself in trouble for a viral video where he engaged in reckless driving and crashed his multimillion naira car. Shortly before the crash, he had threatened to kill himself over his latest breakup with Jarvis.

Tems

Like many of her male counterparts, Temilade Openiyi, aka Tems, continued to extend her global footprint in 2025. In February 2025, she won herself a Grammy in the Best Music Performance category with her song, ‘Love Me Jeje’. She remained one of the most-streamed female artistes in Nigeria and a consistent presence in global playlists. She also focused on championing girl-child issues and providing solutions in her own corner.

Timini Egbuson

In 2025, Timini Egbuson came gun blazing and prepared to not only make a mark but leave his footprints on the sands of time in the year in focus. He appeared in multiple cinema and streaming releases, and his performances consistently sparked debate and admiration.

In February 2025, he donned the hat of a producer to release his own movie, ‘Reel Love’, on Valentine’s Day. The move marked his debut as an executive producer, while also starring as the lead. The feat achieved a record-breaking box office success, grossing over N40m on its opening day, making it the second-highest Nollywood debut ever, and over N99m across the opening weekend. The film eventually surpassed N300m.

Ayra Starr

Mavins recording artist, Ayra Starr attained one of her desired heights in music by emerging the most-streamed female artiste in Nigeria in 2025 according to Spotify’s Wrapped data. Her music and style continued to resonate widely, and her 2025 singles, such as ‘Hot Body’, ‘All the Love’, and ‘Who’s Dat Girl’ (featuring Rema) enjoyed heavy rotation both domestically and abroad.

William Benson

Calling 2025 the year of William Benson would not be out of place. The Nollywood actor sealed his name and made his mark in the Kemi Adetiba produced Netflix series, ‘To Kill A Monkey.’ With the release of the film, Benson’s popularity rose through the roof with many roles begging for his attention. 

Bimbo Ademoye

Bimbo Ademoye’s 2025 run was defined by hard work and versatility. Having made a mark and found her voice in film production on YouTube, Ademoye featured in a prolific mix of romantic comedies, dramas, and feel-good films, many of which premiered on her YouTube channel – Bimbo Ademoye TV.  Her stories resonated strongly with online audiences and she kept amassing views to her channel and her films.

Daniel Etim-Effiong

In 2025, Daniel Etim-Effiong maintained a strong presence across both cinema and streaming platforms, featuring in several romantic titles and other genres of films. Towards the end of 2025, Daniel starred in and made his feature directorial debut with ‘The Herd,’ The film premiered in cinemas in October before landing on Netflix in November. Throughout the year, Etim-Effiong’s roles often positioned him as the emotional anchor until ‘The Herd’ was released. 

Advertisement

Toyin Abraham

Like 2023 and 2024, Toyin Abraham’s 2025 was marked by cinematic success. Her historical epic ‘Iyalode’, which premiered in June, became an instant box-office hit, grossing nearly N300m in its first five weeks. Her influence also extended into social media. Her latest movie, ‘Oversabi Aunty’ has also been getting a lot of buzz.

Hilda Baci

Chef and lifestyle influencer, Hilda Baci had a good year round in 2025 with loads of endorsement deals and another attempt at a Guinness World Record.

The 2023 GWR holder returned in 2025 to dominate digital discourse with the world’s largest pot of jollof rice, cooking 8,780kg in Lagos and feeding over 20,000 people. Her campaign for the feat trended across platforms, becoming one of the most discussed Nigerian social media topics of the year. Announcing her new record some days after, the Guinness World Record wrote on X, “New record: Largest serving of Nigerian style jollof rice – 8,780 kg (19,356 lb 9 oz) achieved by Hilda Baci and Gino in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. She successfully emerged as the only Nigerian that has achieved a double GWR within the space of two years.