Legendary Juju Musician King Sunny Ade Turns 74

Legendary Nigerian singer and one of the biggest proponents of Afrojuju music King Sunny Ade today turned 74. King Sunny Ade was born Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye a member of the Federal Republic of Nigeria a multi-award-winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. King Sunny Ade

He is regarded as one of the first African pop musicians to gain international success and fame. His longevity on the Nigerian music scene with his fluid dance steps, smooth sooting melody and boundless stage energy are one of the numerous joy he brought into the Nigerian music industry.

King Sunny Ade was born in Osogbo Osun State into a royal family from Ondo  State. His father was church organist while his mother Maria Adegeye (Nee Adesida), was a trader

His music is in the age-old tradition of singing poetic lyrics, ewi and praise-singing of dignitaries as well as components of juju.

KSA introduced the pedal steel guitar, synthesizers, clavinet, vibraphone, tenor guitar into the juju music repertoire.

The pedal steel guitar, for instance, was added to his repertoire as a sound-alike for an African violin, Wikipedia states.

Interestingly King Sunny Ade was once signed onto the same record label as Micheal Jackson in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is one of the very first African artistes to sign for an international record label.

Also, his brief recordings with Island Records opened the floodgates for other world music artists like Senegalese Youssou N’Dour, Mali’s Salif Keita and many others.

In the 1980s KSA embarked on a career in Hollywood. His music was featured in the 1983 film Breathless, starring Richard Gere, the 1986 comedy; One More Saturday Night, and Robert Altman’s 1987 comedy O.C. and Stiggs.

Photo Credit: Getty

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