Tyla chokes up remembering Aaliyah as she wins Best R&B: Watch

Tyla was rendered speechless after earning three major awards at the 2024 MTV EMAs, including the coveted Best R&B honour.

In a video shared by the award show's official Instagram account, the 22-year-old South African singer expressed her gratitude for bagging the Best R&B award before she teared up, remembering her idol, Aaliyah.

The clip opened with a flabbergasted Tyla saying, "I am just as shocked as you guys. I don’t know what to do," before taking a deep breath to compose herself.

"Thank you guys so much. Thank you to my tigers, thank you to my team, and thank you to the EMAs," she continued. "I know it's just so hard to categorise my music like I literally mix so many different genres into one but R&B is a huge influence on my music."

"Especially Aaliyah," the Water singer credited the late artist for being her greatest inspiration. "She is like one of my idols, so the fact that I am even winning this in her dress is like," she said in a quivered voice and teary eyes.

However, before the tears could fall, she quickly excused herself and signed off.

For the MTV European Music Awards on Sunday, November 10, Tyla paid tribute to Aaliyah by wearing a blue version of the iconic Roberto Cavalli dress that the late R&B star famously wore to the 2000 MTV VMAs.

In addition to Best R&B title, Tyla earned two other awards one for Best African Act, and the other for Best Afrobeats.