King Sunny Ade.
Music is us. Music is how we express our emotions high and low. Music is words beating to the sounds of our souls.
Today we honor one of our ever-shinning bright lights in the Nigerian music space. He is a living legend, a forever star, and the ultimate dancer. He is no other than the great King Sunny Ade.
King Sunny Ade is a Nigerian Juju singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is regarded as one of the first African pop musicians to gain international success and has been called one of the most influential musicians of all time.
King Sunny Ade was born in Osogbo to a Nigerian royal family from Ondo and Akure, thus making him an Omoba of the Yoruba people. His career began with Moses Olaiya’s Federal Rhythm Dandies, a highlife band.
He left to form a new band, The Green Spots, in 1967. Over the years, for various reasons ranging from changes in his music to business concerns, Sunny Ade’s band changed its name several times, first to African Beats and then to Golden Mercury.
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King Sunny Ade’s music is characterized by many instruments, of note is the talking drum – an instrument indigenous to his Yoruba roots, the guitar and his peculiar application of the Juju music.
His music is in the age-old tradition of singing poetic lyrics (“ewi” in Yoruba) and praise-singing of dignitaries as well as components of Juju (traditional African belief) called the Ogede (casting of spells). Hence, King Sunny Ade’s music provides an educational and historical excursion into the oral tradition of the Yoruba people for posterity.
King Sunny Ade introduced the pedal steel guitar to Nigerian pop music. He introduced the use of synthesizers, clavinet, vibraphone, tenor guitar into the jùjú music repertoire such as dub and wah-wah guitar licks. The pedal steel guitar was added to his repertoire as a sound-alike for an African violin.
King Sunny Ade with his band invented his unique sound and instrumental which he mostly uses this sound as an entrance song during live performances. The sound is made with a phalanx of electric guitars that functions like a percussion section and talking drums that sound like a gossipy Greek chorus.
He founded the King Sunny Ade Foundation, an organization that includes a performing arts center, a state-of-the-art recording studio, and housing for young musicians.
King Sunny Ade is recognized globally, and he has numerous awards to his name. He is a recipient of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In 2009, he was inducted into the Afropop Hall of Fame, at the Brooklyn African Festival in the United States.
He dedicated the award to Michael Jackson. In 2016 he became a recipient of the AFRIMA award and was also inducted into Hard Rock Cafe hall of fame.
Please tell us about your favorite Sunny Ade song. We are waiting to hear.