Biography

Biography of Sunny Ade

"King" Sunny Adé, born on September 22, 1946 as Sunday Adeniyi, is a Nigerian musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and a pioneer of modern world music. He is one of

the most influential musicians of all time. Adé was born into a Nigerian royal family of Ondo, the reason he is known as an Omoba among the Yoruba people. Sunny?s father was an organist in the Church, while his mother was a trader.

Sunny Adé attended a grammar school in Ondo. When he left the grammar school, he moved to Lagos, where he ventured into music career.

Sunny Adé evolved his musical from his early days. He began his music career with a highlife band known as Moses Olaiya's Federal Rhythm Dandies. Shortly after, he left the band to form a new one which was called The Green Spots, in the year 1967. Over the years, Sunny Adé's band changed its name several times, first to African Beats and later to Golden Mercury.

In the 1970s and 1980s Adé was touring America and Europe where he played to mixed (both black and white) audiences. His stage act was characterized by dexterous dancing steps and mastery of the guitar.

Ade also had more than a decade of resounding success in Africa. He was received to great acclaim in Europe and North America in 1982. The New York Times described him ' as "one of the world's great band leaders", while the Trouser Press described him as "one of the most captivating and important musical artists anywhere in the world".

Sunny?s music is characterized by, the talking drum, the guitar and his peculiar application to jùjú music. His music sings poetic lyrics ("ewi" in Yoruba land) and praise of dignitaries. His music also has some components of Juju ( a traditional African belief) called the Ogede (meaning casting a spell). In sum, Ades?s music constitutes a record of the oral tradition of Yoruba people for posterity.

It was Sunny Adé who first introduce the pedal steel guitar to Nigerian pop music. He was the first to introduce the use of clavinet, synthesizers, tenor guitar, vibraphone, into the jùjú music.

When Bob Marley died, Island Records got introduced to Sunny Ade when they began looking for another third world artist to put on its contract. In 1982, the Juju Music was released. Today, Sunny Ade?s seminal recording is often acclaimed as one of the most important records from Africa. Adé gained a wide popularity following this album and was soon acclaimed "the African Bob Marley".

Sunny has collaborated with major artists including Manu Dibango (Wakafrika) and Stevie Wonder (played harmonica in Aura).

Sunny Ade later employed an American manager, Andrew Frankel who negotiated three album record deal with the Mesa record label (a Division of Paradise Group) in America. Among these albums was 1998s Odu, a collection of traditional Yoruba songs, which led to Sunny Ade being nominated for the second Grammy Award thus making him the first African to be nominated twice for a Grammy.

Sunny Ade has a non-profit organisation called the King Sunny Adé Foundation.

In the 1980s Adé started a career in Hollywood. His music was featured in the 1983 film Breathless, which starred Richard Gere, and the 1986 comedy One More Saturday Night., He also acted in Robert Altman's 1987 comedy O.C. and Stiggs.

Sunny Ade was appointed a visiting professor of music at the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. He was inducted as a member of the Afropop Hall of Fame, at the Brooklyn African Festival which held in the United States, an award he dedicated the deceased Michael Jackson.

- Dammy Krane
He was born on the 10th of Dec. to Oluwakemi Osodi (who was a manager in the ?Fuji music? industry at the time) He?s known for his melodic voice, engaging lyrics and exciting genre of alternative music. Dammy Krane's presence demands attention. This...

- Omo Akin
Omo Akin is a very dynamic,diversified and creative individual.A 2:1 graduate in Financial economics from Kingston university and an aspiring qualified accountant.With such background, it would come as a surprise that such an individual could also be...

- Asa
Born Bukola Elemide, A?a was born in Paris, France to Nigerian parents. She was two years old when her family returned to live in Nigeria. A?a grew up in Lagos, in the south-western part of Nigeria. She states that the city is "buzzing with energy but...

- Biography Of Victor Uwaifo
Victor Efosa Uwaifo was born on March 1, 1941 in Benin City, Nigeria. Between 1957 and 1961, Victor attended Western Boys High School Benin City and St. Gregory?s College, Lagos. He later proceeded to Yaba College of Technology, where he studied Graphics...

- Biography Of Oliver De Coque
Chief Dr. Oliver Sunday Akanite, Popularly referred to as Oliver De Coque was born on April 14, 1947, and died on June 21, 2008. He was a Nigerian highlife musician and guitarist who recorded more than 73 albums in his life time. Oliver was...

Biography