He is one Nigerian musician that has striven to establish and achieve an enviable height in music at both the local and international arenas. An encounter with King Sunny Ade by Tope Olukole reveals the best kept secret of Juju music maestro, who recently marked his 65th birthday.What was the beginning like for you' I veered into music as an adventurous youth at a time when musicians and entertainers were generally perceived by the society as never do wells. Typical of kids of good parental background and family pride, as a Prince, my early ambition in life was to become a medical doctor. That dream has since been consigned to history.Take us through your background' I was born in Ondo, my father's hometown, on Sunday 22nd September, 1946, to Samuel Adeniyi Adegeye, a prince from the Adegeye royal family in Ondo town, who was then caretaker at the African Church and Princess Mariam Adegeye, my mother was petty trader from another royal family in Akure, the Ondo State Capital, I was later taken to Osogbo at the age of five, to avert a prophetic revelation proclaiming great danger to my life. Most regrettably, however, my father died a year later and my mother was saddled with the burden of bringing up the children from her petty trade business.How did you cope with life after the demise of your father' Having to live the rest of my life without the able support and guidance of my dear father strengthened my resolve to make it in life. It was like I saw myself as the pillar of the family very early in life, particularly in 1954, when I was being registered into schoolAt 65, how do you feel'Very great. I thank God for His grace over my life. They once said I would not leave up to 60 years today, I'm 65 years old.Your mother died about a year ago. Do you miss anything in her'Yes, I miss her so dearly. As an orphan, there is nobody to advices me and counsel on things to do and not to do.When did you form your own band' As a student of St. Charles Grammar School, KSA was already a full time member of Idowu Owoeye's band. The band's outing in Abeokuta, on the occasion of the coronation of Oba Gbadebo as the new Alake of Egba land marked the turning point in KSA's life; becoming a professional musician.We did not make enough money at the occasion; we became stranded in Abeokuta for more than three weeks. The lorry we hired left us in the town since we were unable to pay him. It was a terrible experience. During this period, one of us, the late brother Ayo Oyeleye told me his intention to go to Lagos and join Moses Olaiya's band. He actually lured me to follow him.What happened next' I left for Lagos to join Moses Olaiya's group with the hope of raising sufficient money to return to my family at Osogbo, but that was never to be, as the lure of music and comfort from Moses Olaiya, the leader of the group, turned the table around.I had no option but to join him, more for the way he treated me like his own son than any initial intention to stay in Lagos and to cover the track from my worried and unsuspecting family back home, who had become apprehensive about my whereabouts, and my new resolve to play music, I sent words across that he had been enrolled in a school in Lagos.Of course, the rest is history today; it was like I was quick to realize early enough that I am destined to be great musician. He knew what I was set out to achieve in music and went straight for it.As an apprentice musician in Moses Olaiya's band, I indeed exploited every opportunity and a great deal of access to instruments. With little or virtually no pastime, I had music as the only thing in my head. I thought of music everytime. I got hooked, completely hooked to music'Can you give one remarkable feat recorded by you then' At that time I was teaching myself to play the guitar. My dexterity in playing guitar has, over the years, earned me the nickname, master guitarist. It is not surprising, therefore, that I was rated the 68th guitarist in the world, among both living and dead world famous guitarists by the 1996 edition of Mojo Magazine, published in Great Britain.My young age not withstanding, I soon rose to become leader of Moses Olaiya's band. my very rich talent eventually sold me out to Chief Tunde Amuwo, the leader of the High Society Band and a close friend of Moses Olaiya for a greater stake in music. I was granted an initial mandate to assemble my own group within three months. And with the musical instrument made available to me by my sponsor, Chief Tunde Amuwo, I set out as the band leader of Sunny Adex and his High Society Band, in 1966. The band later metamorphosed to Sunny Ade and his Green Spot band and then, Sunny Ade and his Golden Mercury of Africa and finally to King Sunny Ade and his African Beat.How did you revolutionize Juju music' I started with the amplification of the talking drums, omele, iya ilu, the electric drums, keyboard, Hawaiian guitar and even the agogo, (gong), which is now the in thing among Juju and Fuji musicians. I re-ordered the positioning style for more stagecraft because musicians used to sit to play. I raised the standard of Juju to its present internationally acceptable level by procuring world acclaimed modern instruments and introduce stage setting among others. In popularizing Juju music, I went on his first overseas tour in 1970. His breakthrough in the international music arena actually came in 1983 when he was signed on by Island records, after the death of the legendary reggae star, Bob Nesta Marley. Thereafter, performing at big international music concerts became a pastime for KSA while organizing an elaborate world tour to promote his act and music was like an annual ritual. He could well be counted as one of the most travelled musicians in the world. How many albums do you have to your credit now' King Sunny Ade has to his credit, well over 150 albums, including two duet albums. Also a star actor, KSA has acted in two major home video productions fopomoyo which he jointly produced with another renowned Yoruba actor, Jimoh Aliu, alias Aworo, and Aremo Adegeye his personal production with Abiola Atanda alias Madam Kofo. What about women in your musical career' King Sunny Ade believes women played a great role in influencing the popularity of his music. His life long aspiration is to build a music village in Ondo, his home town, through the joint efforts of his foundation and the Ondo State Government.
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