“King” Sunny Adé is a year older today.
“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.
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 album, Syncro System (1983), earned him his first Grammy Award nomination in the folk/ethnic music category.
He has also collaborated with the likes Stevie Wonder, Manu Dibango and many other veteran international acts.
Sunny Ade has received two Grammy award nominations. He is also a successful businessman and in 2015, he launched a radio station in his native Ondo state.