Sonny Okosun

One of the leading Nigerian musician of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Sonny Okosun was born in Edo State, Nigeria on January 1, 1947. He is best known for leading the Ozzidi band, a group that blended Afro-beat, reggae, and funk. Spending his early days living with his grandmother in Ibore and then moving to live with his parents in Enugu. He attended several different schools growing up before he moved to Lagos to pursue a career as an actor. He took drama lessons but ended up leaving drama school and moving back to Enugu. He participated in several local stage productions and studied acting under John Okwert. After appearing on some radio and TV adverts, he switched his attention to music. After performing on a show on an Eastern regional television show, he was noticed by Mariam Okagbue, who encouraged him to continue making music and gave him a guitar to aid in his creativity. Arriving in England with a drama group in 1965, he was able to attend concerts by many of the country’s biggest bands at the time including the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Herman’s Hermits. Inspired by what he saw, he joined a band when he returned back to Nigeria. His family moved to Lagos to escape the civil war. He joined Victor Uwaifo’s Maestros in 1969, which eventually led to Sonny Okosun forming his own band, Paperback Ltd., who eventually evolved into Ozzidi. The group released several albums – including Ozzidi (1976), Ozzidi for Sale (1976), and Living Music (1977) – while also releasing solo records. His biggest solo hit at the time was “Help” (1975), credited to Sonny Okosun’s Ozzidi. His musical style changed in the late 1970s, adding reggae influences to his Afro-pop sound. After several Nigerian-only albums throughout the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, he issued the album Liberation (1984), which was his first released in the United States. That album was followed by Which Way Nigeria (1984), Revolution II (1985) and Now or Never (1986). By the late 1980s, the momentum on his career slowed down and in the 1990s, he became Evangelist Sonny Okosun and focused on gospel music. Sonny Okosun died of colon cancer on May 24, 2008.

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