Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye MFR (born 22 September 1946), known professionally as King Sunny Adé, is a Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is regarded as one of the first Afrîcan pop musicians to gain international success and has been called one of the most influential musicians of all time.
Sunny Adé was born in Osogbo to a Nigerian royal family from Ondo and Akure, making him an Omoba of the Yoruba people. His father was a church organist, while his mother, Maria Adegeye, was a trader. As a member of the Adesida dynasty, his mother’s relatives included Oba Adesida I (who ruled Akure for 60 years).
Legendary King Sunny Ade was Nigeria’s first international Superstar. The first Nigerian artist to be nominated for a Grammy. KSA was also described in The New York Times as “one of the world’s great band leaders”. With Island Records, he released two Billboard ranking and commercially successful albums, “Juju Music” in 1982 and “Synchro System” the following year. The album “Synchro System” earned him a Grammy nomination in the ethnic/traditional folk recording category, the first of its kind for a Nigerian indigenous artist. ❤️🙌🏿
