Background
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.
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 where he played to mixed (both black and white) audiences. His stage act
was characterised by dexterous dancing steps and mastery of the guitar. Trey
Anastasio, American guitarist, composer and one of his devout followers, once
said, "If you come to see Sunny Adé live, you must be prepared to groove
all night."[citation needed]
After more than a decade of resounding success in Africa,
Adé was received to great acclaim in Europe and North America in 1982.[4][5]
The global release of Juju Music and its accompanying tour was "almost
unanimously embraced by critics (if not consumers) everywhere".[4] Adé was
described by The New York Times' as "one of the world's great band
leaders",[6] and in Trouser Press as "one of the most captivating and
important musical artists anywhere in the world".[4]
His next album, Syncro System (1983), was equally
successful[7] 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,[8][9] 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.
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.
**Note: 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 Arm Forces Radio [2]. Many music aficionados are quick to
point out that Sunny Adé's brand of music Juju could not be ignored.[10] Today,
this seminal recording is often acclaimed as one of the most important records
from Africa. Adé gained a wide following with this album and was soon billed as
"the African Bob Marley".
Sunny Adé has said in the past 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).
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,
negotiated another three album record deal with the Mesa record label (a
Division of Paradise Group) in America. One of these albums was 1998s 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.[13] 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 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.[14] 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.[15][16][17] He dedicated the award to the recently deceased Michael
Jackson.
Filmography
Film Role Year
Breathless King
Sunny Adé (Music) 1983
One More Saturday Night King
Sunny Adé (Music) 1986
O.C. and Stiggs King Sunny Adé
(Music & appearance) 1987
Source: wikipedia
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