Birth nameSunday Adeniyi Born September 22, 1946 (age 66) Oshogbo
OriginOndo, Nigeria GenresJùjú,Yearsactive1960s–present "King" Sunny
Adé (born Sunday Adeniyi, September 22, 1946) is a popular performer
of Yoruba Nigerian jùjú music and a pioneer of modern world music. He
has been classed as one of the most influential musicians of all
time.[1]
Adé was born to a Nigerian royal family in Ondo, thus making him an
Omoba of the Yoruba people.His father was a church organist, while his
mother was a trader. Adé left grammar school in Ondo under the
pretense of going to the University of Lagos. There, in Lagos, his
mercurial musical career started.
Sunny Adé's Musical Sound has evolved from the early days. His career
began with Moses Olaiya's Federal Rhythm Dandies, a highlife band.
He left to form The Green Spots in 1967. Over the years, for various
reasons ranging from changes in his music to business concerns, Sunny
Adé's band changed its name several times, first to African Beats and
then to Golden Mercury.
Sunny Adé's music is characterised by, among other instruments, the
talking drum - an instrument indigenous to his Yoruba roots, the
guitar and his peculiar application to jùjú music, that would easily
put him in the same class as guitar musicians like Santana.
His music is in the age old tradition of singing poetic lyrics ("Ewi"
in Yoruba) and praise of dignitaries as well components of "juju"
(traditional African belief) called the "Ogede"-"casting a spell".
Hence, Adé's music constitutes a record of the oral tradition of his
people for posterity.
Sunny Adé was the first to introduce the pedal steel guitar to
Nigerian pop music. He was the first to introduce the use of
synthesizers, clavinet, vibraphone, tenor guitar into the jùjú music
repertoire such as dub and wah-wah guitar licks.
Sunny has collaborated with major artists such as Manu Dibango
(WAKAFRIKA) and Stevie Wonder (played harmonica in Aura).
Sunny Adé's brief recordings with Island records opened the floodgates
for other world music artist like Senegalese Youssou N'Dour, Mali's
Salif Keita and a host of others.
In 1987, Sunny Adé returned to international spotlight when Rykodisc
released a live concert he did in Seattle and was given an astonishing
embrace by fans across the globe who were eager for another
international album release.
He soon employed an American manager, Andrew Frankel, negotiated
another three album record deal with the Mesa record label (a Division
of Paradise Group) in America. One of these albums was 1998's Odu, a
collection of traditional Yoruba songs, with which he was nominated
for the second Grammy Award and thus making him the first African to
be nominated twice for a Grammy.
Apart from being an international musician Sunny Adé is also prominent
in his native Nigeria, running multiple companies in several
industries, creating a non-profit organization called the King Sunny
Adé Foundation, and working with the Musical Copyright Society of
Nigeria.
In recent times, hip hop music appears to be holding sway with the
electronic media in Nigeria with massive airplays. Nonetheless, Sunny
Adé's musical output has continued to inspire a vast generation of
other Nigerian musicians, who believe in the big band musical set up
which Sunny Adé and late Fela Kuti are noted for.
The musician, Lagbaja is one of the very many musicians Sunny Adé's
music has inspired. In 2008, his contributions to world music was
recognised; as he was given an award for his outstanding contribution
to world music at the Reggae and world music awards held at the
Appollo Theater in Harlem, New York.
In the 1980s Adé embarked on a career in Hollywood. His music was
featured in the 1983 film Breathless, starring Richard Gere, and the
1986 comedy One More Saturday Night, and he acted in Robert Altman's
1987 comedy O.C. and Stiggs.
The entire YB entertainment celebrates you sir !! Happy Birthday King Sunny Ade