This is a list of notable Nigerian highlife musicians arranged in alphabetical order. There are several other genres of music in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

these include Ikorodo, Igbo gospel,

Owerri Bongo Owerri Bongo ''(Bongo/Igbo Bongo)'' is a style of Igbo highlife music that has its origins in the Igbo people of Owerri and spread around all Imo State, which is in eastern Nigeria. The musical style is a sub-genre of Igbo highlife music. Unlike ...

Fuji music Fújì is a popular Yoruba musical genre. It arose from the improvisational wéré music, also known as ajísari (meaning "waking up for sari"), a genre of music performed to wake Muslims before dawn during the Ramadan fasting season. Alhaji S ...

Ekpili Ekpili (also known as Ekpiri/ Egwu Ekpili or Akuko-na-egwu) is a style of folk genre of music which has its origins from the Igbo people in the Southeastern part of Nigeria. This style of Igbo folk music is characterized by the musical instrumen ...

Jùjú music Jùjú is a style of Yoruba popular music, derived from traditional Yoruba percussion. The name juju from the Yoruba word "juju" or "jiju" meaning "throwing" or "something being thrown". Juju music did not derive its name from juju, which is a ...

Apala Apala (or akpala) is a music genre originally developed by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, during the country's history as a colony of the British Empire. It is a percussion-based style that originated in the late 1930s. The rhythms of apala grew ...

Were music Were music () is an indigenous Yoruba music, which, like ajisari, is a way of using music to arouse the Islamic faithful to pray and feast during Ramadan festival in Yorubaland. Ajiwere or oniwere means "one who performs were music." Unlike aji ...

and

Highlife Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (British colony), history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions ...

. Although Highlife originated in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, the genre has spread across west African countries including Nigeria.

B

Babá Ken Okulolo Babá Ken Okulolo (born September 12, 1950) is a Nigerian bassist and bandleader who was first seen in the U.S. in 1985 with King Sunny Ade's world-touring band. He has played with renowned Afrobeat creator Fela Anikulapo Kuti, highlife master Vi ...

Bobby Benson Bernard Olabinjo "Bobby" Benson (11 April 1922 – 14 May 1983) was an entertainer and musician who had considerable influence on the Nigerian music scene, introducing big band and Caribbean idioms to the Highlife style of popular West African m ...

Bright Chimezie Bright Chimezie (born 1 October 1960) is a musician from Abia State, Nigeria and is married to Chinyere Chimezie. His music style became known as Zigima Sound. It is a genre which became popular in the Eastern part of Nigeria in the early 1980s ...

* Bola Johnson

C

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe (March 17, 1936 – May 11, 2007), often referred to as just Osita Osadebe, was a Nigerian highlife musician from Atani. During his career spanning over four decades, he became one of the best known musicians of Ig ...

* The Cavemen

D

Dr Sir Warrior Christogonus Ezebuiro Obinna (1947 – 2 June 1999), alias Dr. Sir Warrior, was a Nigerian Igbo highlife Igbo highlife is a contemporary musical genre which combines highlife and Igbo traditional music. It first started off in the southeast r ...

E

Ebenezer Obey Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu Olasupo Obey-Fabiyi (born 3 April 1942), known professionally as Ebenezer Obey, is a Nigerian jùjú musician. Early life Obey was born on 3 April 1942 to an Egba–Yoruba ethnic background family. Obey, whose real ...

F

Fatai Rolling Dollar Olayiwola Fatai Olagunju, known professionally as Fatai Rolling Dollar (22 July 1927 – 12 June 2013), was a Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, described by the BBC as a "nationally celebrated performer." Biography H ...

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the p ...

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 ...

Fela Sowande Chief Olufela Obafunmilayo "Fela" Sowande MBE (29 May 1905 – 13 March 1987) was a Nigerian musician and composer. Considered the father of modern Nigerian art music, Sowande is perhaps the most internationally known African composer of works i ...

Flavour N'abania Chinedu Okoli (born 23 November 1983), better known by his stage name Flavour N'abania or simply Flavour, is a Nigerian singer. He began his musical career as a drummer for a local church. Flavour is popularly known across Africa and the world ...

I

I. K. Dairo Isaiah Kehinde Dairo MBE (1930 – 7 February 1996) was a Nigerian Jùjú musician. Early life I.K. Dairo was born in the town of Offa, located in present-day Kwara State; his family was originally from Ijebu-Jesa before migrating to Offa ...

K

Kabaka the kabaka Palace in kireka Kabaka is the title of the king of the Kingdom of Buganda.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, According to the traditions of the Baganda they are ruled by two kings, one spiritual and ...

M

* Mike Ejeagha

O

Orlando Owoh Orlando Owoh (14 February 1932 – 4 November 2008) was a Nigerian highlife musician and band leader of Yoruba origin. Biography He was born Stephen Oladipupo Olaore Owomoyela in Osogbo, Nigeria on 14 February 1932 to Owomoyela and Mrs. Chr ...

* Oliver De Coque *

Oriental Brothers The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

* Osita Osadebe *

Orlando Julius Ekemode Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode, known professionally as Orlando Julius or Orlando Julius Ekemode (22 September 1943 – 14 April 2022) was a Nigerian saxophonist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter closely associated with afrobeat music. ...

P

Prince Nico Mbarga Nico Mbarga (1 January 1950 – 23 June 1997), better known as Prince Nico Mbarga, was a Cameroonian-Nigerian highlife musician, born to a Nigerian mother and a Cameroonian father in Abakaliki, Nigeria.Rex Lawson Rex Jim Lawson (4 March 1938 – 18 January 1971), known as Cardinal Rex, was a singer, trumpeter and bandleader from Buguma, Nigeria. He became one of the best-known highlife musicians of the 1960s in Africa when Cardinal and his band dominated ...

* Roy Chicago

S

Seun Kuti Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti (born 11 January 1983), who is called by the name Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, singer and the youngest son of the famous Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti. Seun leads his father's former band Egypt 80. Biography The y ...

Sunny Ade Sunny is a daytime weather condition. It may refer to: People * Sunny (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Sunny (singer), member of Girls' Generation * Sunny, of Sue and Sunny, who also recorded as a solo artist ...

U

Umu Obiligbo Umu may refer to: * A variety of earth ovens in Polynesia, including: ** Māori umu tī, used to cook ''Cordyline australis'' and other varieties of Cordyline with similar large tap roots. ** Māori hāngi, also called umu in Samoa, especially in o ...

V

Victor Olaiya Victor Abimbola Olaiya , (31 December 1930 – 12 February 2020), also known as Dr Victor Olaiya, was a Nigerian trumpeter who played in the highlife style. Though famous in Nigeria during the 1950s and early 1960s, Olaiya received little recog ...

Victor Uwaifo Victor Efosa Uwaifo (1 March 1941 – 28 August 2021) was a Nigerian musician, writer, sculptor, and musical instrument inventor, university lecturer, music legend, and the first Honorable Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism in Nigeria. ...

W

Wilberforce Echezona Wilberforce William Chukudinka Echezona was a Nigerian musicologist and a pioneer teacher of music in Nigerian universities. He was the first Igbo man to be educated at London's Trinity College of Music, and the first African to obtain a degree ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nigerian highlife musicians

Nigerian highlife musicians

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See also

References