Fuji musician Saheed Osupa and Nollywood actors Saidi Balogun and Antar Laniyan on Tuesday joined the nation in celebrating legendary juju singer King Sunny Ade (KSA) on his 74th birthday.
In an Instagram post, Saheed said, “Once in every generation a wonderful singer is born…Happy birthday to the legendary juju_singer…The king of world beat @kingsunnyade70 @king_sunnyade …You shall live to witness many more meaningful and fruitful years on the earth surface sir. I wish you long life and prosperity Baami, Adegèye.”
Saidi Balogun shared on Instagram the picture of a young Sunny Ade, calling him the “guitar wonder man”.
“Happy birthday king Sunday Adeniyi (Sunny Ade) M F R, the Guitar wonder man keep smiling in success Sir,” he wrote.
Also on the photo-sharing app, Antar Laniyan wrote: “Happy birthday to you my adorable father…God Almighty in his infinite mercies and wisdom will grant you many more years in good health and abundant wealth, amen sir.”
Born Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye, the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is regarded as one of Africa’s most famous singers.
KSA is popular for his spectacular dance moves, boundless stage energy and vast collaborative variety.
Born in Osogbo to a Nigerian royal family in Ondo and Akure, his father was a church organist while his mother Maria Adegeye (née Adesida) was a trader.
Sunny Ade has collaborated with major singers such as Manu Dibango and Stevie Wonder as well as younger Nigerian artistes such as Wasiu Alabi Pasuma and Bola Abimbola.
His short stint with Island Records opened the floodgates for other world music artistes like Senegalese Youssou N’Dour, Mali’s Salif Keita and many others.
In the 1980s KSA embarked on a career in Hollywood. His music was featured in the 1983 film Breathless starring Richard Gere; the 1986 comedy One More Saturday Night and Robert Altman’s 1987 comedy O.C. and Stiggs.
