Ben is the first South African to walk away with a win in the New Talent category at the IPMA awards!
Cape Town, South Africa (04 May 2026) – Another week, another South African talent shining internationally!
The International Portuguese Music Awards took place in the US over the weekend, and SA’s own, Ben Rodrigues, walked away with the New Talent award, becoming the first South African to scoop the global win.
The annual awards ceremony, now in its 14th year, honours musicians of Portuguese descent from all over the world at the historic Providence Performing Arts Centre in Rhode Island, which is the US state with the highest percentage of Portuguese population.
Not only did Ben scoop an award at the ceremony, but he also performed – sharing his home-grown talent with international eyes and ears.
“Still can’t believe we won a music award exactly 2 years after my first song…” shared Rodrigues on Instagram after claiming his win.
Rodrigues won the category against fellow Portuguese contender Sophia Tavares.
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Temu Refused to Leave His Poisoned Dog's Side and Love Won the Day!The award comes just days after Ben celebrated his engagement to one of South Africa’s most popular content creators, Talisha Grobler. The local beauty said ‘yes!’ to her forever against the backdrop of seaside views in Cape Town.
Rodrigues wasn’t the only star South Africans were rooting for at the IPMA awards.
South African singer-songwriter, Katia De Vallier, who began releasing her original music after recovering from a serious vocal health scare, was nominated for her song Do The Things in the Rap/Hip-Hop/Dance Performance category. De Vallier was in attendance at the awards, but lost the category to rapper Bankrol Hayden from the United States for his song 2 AM Somewhere.
Still, two of South Africa’s own are making their Portuguese and South African communities back home proud.
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