Evi Edna Ogholi (born 6 July 1966). is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

female

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

musician popular for her song "Happy Birthday".From France, Evi-Edna Ogholi rocks with peace and love
guardian.ng, 16 April 2017.

Early life

Ogholi was born on 6 July 1966 in Isoko, Delta State (then Midwest Region) to the household of Reverend R. O. Ogholirly. She married her producer and manager Emma Ogosi, and they had two children. The couple later separated and Ogholi is living in Paris.

Career

Ogholi released her debut album ''My Kind of Music'' in 1987. Emma Ogosi was her manager and producer. Her popular hits are "Happy Birthday" "Oghene Me" and "Look Before You Cross". After a long vacation from the music scene Ogholi unveiled her plans to resume to entertain her fans, during her interview with

BBC Pidgin BBC News Pidgin is an online news service in West African Pidgin English that was launched by the BBC World Service in 2017.- It is based in Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populou ...

and Splash 105.5 FM Ibadan.

APCN Humanitarian Awards

In 2020, she was honored and endorsed as the brand Ambassador of Hope and Peace to Aid People Change Nigeria Charity and Orphanage Organisation in Nigeria and Ireland to host Nigeria and Ireland largest humanitarian 12th edition award event.

Other names

Ogholi earned the recognition 'Queen of Nigeria reggae' firstly from a Nigerian reggae music legend blessed memory of

Majek Fashek Majekodunmi Fasheke, popularly known as Majek Fashek (March 1963 – 1 June 2020) was a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His 1988 album ''Prisoner of Conscience'' included the single "Send Down the Rain", which won six PMAN Music Awards ...

to later be known globally with her act. She told

during her interview that her reggae wristband was a gift from Majek Fashek to her, after they finished recording with their band in a studio section in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. She was later known for other names like 'Africa's Queen Of Reggae', a nickname she earned from fans in west Africa, after she released three albums that went

Platinum album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

Endorsement

Ogholi was an ambassador for

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

in 1990, and featured in a commercial for the brand with

Yvonne Chaka Chaka Yvonne Chaka Chaka (born Yvonne Machaka on 18 March 1965) is a South African singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, humanitarian and teacher. Dubbed the "Princess of Africa" (a name she received after a 1990 tour), Chaka Chaka has been at t ...

Charly Boy Charly Boy, born Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, 19 June 1950 (also known as CB, His Royal Punkness, and Area Fada), is a Nigerian singer/songwriter, television presenter, actor, publisher, and producer. One of Nigeria's most controversial entertai ...

, and

Femi Kuti Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962), popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's r ...

Controversy

After Ogholi left the Nigerian music scene in 1990 she volunteered for

Unicef UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

in France for almost nineteen years. Rumors circulated on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, Facebook and

blogs A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

that she had died were dispelled in 2020 and Nigerian national journalists contacted her for a press release.

Record deal

In 2020 she signed a five-year record deal with Enorecords owned by Nigeria reggae singer Winning Jah. In August 2020, she released an EP under the imprint, titled ''Peace and Love'' which included a remix of her most popular song 'Happy Birthday'. The EP was produced, mixed and mastered by the label's in-house producer Ayemere Joshua, commonly known by his stage name 'Jossy Joe'.

Discography

* My Kind Of Music (LP, Album) Polydor POLP 157 1987 * On The Move Polydor 1988 * Happy Birthday (LP, Album) Polydor POLP 197 1988 * No Place Like Home Polydor 1989 *Loose (LP, Album) Margenta (2) MGTLP 001 1990 * Step By Step (LP, Album) Polydor POLP 247 1990 * Peace and Love (LP,Album) Enorecords LLC 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogholi, Evi Edna 1970 births Living people 20th-century Nigerian women singers Musicians from Delta State Nigerian reggae musicians 21st-century Nigerian women singers