Birth name
Sunday Adeniyi
Also known as
King of Juju, Sunny Ade, Minister of Enjoyment
Sunday Adeniyi
Also known as
King of Juju, Sunny Ade, Minister of Enjoyment
Born
22 September 1946 (age 70)
Oshogbo , Osun State, Nigeria
22 September 1946 (age 70)
Oshogbo , Osun State, Nigeria
Genres
Jùjú
Years active
1960s–present
Jùjú
Years active
1960s–present
Labels
I.R.S. Records
"King" Sunny Adé (born Sunday Adeniyi , 22
September 1946) is a Nigerian musician, singer-
songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and a pioneer
of modern world music. He has been classed as
one of the most influential musicians of all time.
I.R.S. Records
"King" Sunny Adé (born Sunday Adeniyi , 22
September 1946) is a Nigerian musician, singer-
songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and a pioneer
of modern world music. He has been classed as
one of the most influential musicians of all time.
Background
Adé was born to a Nigerian royal family in Ondo ,
thus making him an Omoba of the Yoruba people .
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 a new band, 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.
Stage performances
In the 1970s and 1980s Adé embarked on a tour
of America and Europe. His stage act was
characterised by dexterous dancing steps and
mastery of the guitar.
After more than a decade of resounding success
in his native Nigeria, Adé was received to great
acclaim in Europe and North America in 1982.
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 a new band, 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.
Stage performances
In the 1970s and 1980s Adé embarked on a tour
of America and Europe. His stage act was
characterised by dexterous dancing steps and
mastery of the guitar.
After more than a decade of resounding success
in his native Nigeria, Adé was received to great
acclaim in Europe and North America in 1982.
The global release of Juju Music and its
accompanying tour was "almost unanimously
embraced by critics (if not consumers)
everywhere". Adé was described in The New
York Times' as "one of the world's great band
leaders", in Record as "a breath of fresh air, a
positive vibration we will feel for some time to
come" and in Trouser Press as "one of the
most captivating and important musical artists
anywhere in the world".
His next album, Syncro System (1983), was
equally successful and earned him his first
Grammy Award nomination in the folk/ethnic
music category. [ citation needed ]
A fusion of sounds
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 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. Adé said he used these
instruments not as an attempt to innovate, but
as a substitute for traditional jùjú instruments
which were too difficult to find and/or
impractical for touring. The pedal steel
guitar, for instance, was added to his repertoire
as a sound-alike for an African violin .
Island records
After the death of Bob Marley , Island Records
began looking for another third world artist to put
on its contract, while Fela Kuti had just been
signed by Arista Records . Producer Martin
Meissonnier introduced King Sunny Adé to Chris
Blackwell, leading to the release of Juju Music in
1982. Robert Palmer claims to have brought King
Sunny Adé to Island's attention, his familiarity
being from his life on Malta in the 60s listening
to African Radio and Armed Forces Radio.
Adé gained a wide following with this album and
was soon billed as "the African Bob Marley".
Sunny Adé has said that his refusal to allow
Island to meddle with his compositions and over-
Europeanise and Americanise his music were the
reasons why Island then decided to look
elsewhere.
Collaborations
Sunny has collaborated with major artists such
as Manu Dibango ( Wakafrika ) and Stevie Wonder
(played harmonica in Aura), as well as younger
Nigerian artists such as Wasiu Alabi Pasuma and
Bola Abimbola .
Sunny Adé's 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.
Grammy Awards
1987 comeback
In 1987, Sunny Adé returned to the 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.
accompanying tour was "almost unanimously
embraced by critics (if not consumers)
everywhere". Adé was described in The New
York Times' as "one of the world's great band
leaders", in Record as "a breath of fresh air, a
positive vibration we will feel for some time to
come" and in Trouser Press as "one of the
most captivating and important musical artists
anywhere in the world".
His next album, Syncro System (1983), was
equally successful and earned him his first
Grammy Award nomination in the folk/ethnic
music category. [ citation needed ]
A fusion of sounds
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 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. Adé said he used these
instruments not as an attempt to innovate, but
as a substitute for traditional jùjú instruments
which were too difficult to find and/or
impractical for touring. The pedal steel
guitar, for instance, was added to his repertoire
as a sound-alike for an African violin .
Island records
After the death of Bob Marley , Island Records
began looking for another third world artist to put
on its contract, while Fela Kuti had just been
signed by Arista Records . Producer Martin
Meissonnier introduced King Sunny Adé to Chris
Blackwell, leading to the release of Juju Music in
1982. Robert Palmer claims to have brought King
Sunny Adé to Island's attention, his familiarity
being from his life on Malta in the 60s listening
to African Radio and Armed Forces Radio.
Adé gained a wide following with this album and
was soon billed as "the African Bob Marley".
Sunny Adé has said that his refusal to allow
Island to meddle with his compositions and over-
Europeanise and Americanise his music were the
reasons why Island then decided to look
elsewhere.
Collaborations
Sunny has collaborated with major artists such
as Manu Dibango ( Wakafrika ) and Stevie Wonder
(played harmonica in Aura), as well as younger
Nigerian artists such as Wasiu Alabi Pasuma and
Bola Abimbola .
Sunny Adé's 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.
Grammy Awards
1987 comeback
In 1987, Sunny Adé returned to the 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, who negotiated another three
album record deal with the Mesa record label (a
division of Paradise Group) in America. One of
these albums was 1988's Odu, a collection of
traditional Yoruba songs , for 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 organisation 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 whom 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
International Reggae and World Music Awards
held at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.
Hollywood career
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.
2009 comeback
At the beginning of another round of tour of the
United States and Canada, Sunny Adé, now
known as The Chairman in his home country,
was appointed a visiting professor of music at
the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. [16] In
July the same year King Sunny Adé was inducted
into the Afropop Hall of Fame, at the Brooklyn
African Festival in the United States.
He dedicated the award to the recently
deceased Michael Jackson.
Andrew Frankel, who negotiated another three
album record deal with the Mesa record label (a
division of Paradise Group) in America. One of
these albums was 1988's Odu, a collection of
traditional Yoruba songs , for 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 organisation 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 whom 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
International Reggae and World Music Awards
held at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.
Hollywood career
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.
2009 comeback
At the beginning of another round of tour of the
United States and Canada, Sunny Adé, now
known as The Chairman in his home country,
was appointed a visiting professor of music at
the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. [16] In
July the same year King Sunny Adé was inducted
into the Afropop Hall of Fame, at the Brooklyn
African Festival in the United States.
He dedicated the award to the recently
deceased Michael Jackson.
He has 7wives and many children
source: Wikipedia
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