Rwanda: Israel Mbonyi reaches 1 million YouTube subscribers milestone

The artist, who marked 10 years in music on 10 March, is the second Rwandan gospel artist, after Meddy, to achieve the milestone.

The artist took to social media to celebrate the achievement, writing: “Thank you for a million subscribers. God bless every one of you.”

Mbonyi has won the hearts of many fans, mostly through animated live performances that are published on his YouTube channel.

Last year, he set the East African music scene alight with the release of ‘Nina Siri’, a single and video recorded during a live concert, which has been viewed more than 40 million times.

Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and raised in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, Mbonyi’s passion for music began at an early age. A as a child, he went to music school and began writing songs for his church’s choir. Today, the 31 year old is one of the most celebrated East African gospel artists, charting new territory in the industry with sold-out shows and millions of streams.

His previous songs were sung mainly in Kinyarwanda until June 2023 when he released ‘Nina Siri’, which served as his introduction to a wider Swahili-speaking audience in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Following the success of ‘Nina Siri’, Mbonyi went on to release other Swahili songs, including ‘Nitaamini’, ‘Malengo Ya Mungu’ and ‘Sikiliza’.

In addition to his musical endeavours, he hosts the annual New Year’s Icyambu Live Concert where he performs alongside other artists and speakers. 

In 2017, he was nominated in the Male Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year categories at the Groove Awards Rwanda. He was also nominated at the 2020 African Entertainment Awards USA. In 2023, he was honoured with the titles of Male Artist of the Year and Best Gospel Artist at Rwanda’s Isango Na Muzika Awards.

This June, he will return to Brussels for his second concert in the Belgian capital, before heading to Kampala, Uganda, in August.