Nelly Uzonna Edith Uchendu, MON (1950 12 April 2005), was a Nigerian

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, composer and actress. Revered for modernizing traditional

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

folk music, Uchendu rose to prominence upon the release of her 1976 song
Love Nwantinti
which earned her the "Lady with the Golden Voice" sobriquet. She released 6 LP recordings during her career.

Life and career

She was born in 1950 in

Umuchu Umuchu is one of the largest towns in Aguata local government area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Umuchu lies near the state border between Anambra and Imo States. It is connected by road to Umunze in the east and Igbo-Ukwu in the northwest. It is ho ...

, a town in Aguata local government area of

Anambra State Anambra State is a Nigerian state, located in the southeastern region of the country. The state was created on August 27, 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State to the south, Enugu State to the east and Kogi St ...

Eastern Nigeria The Eastern Region was an administrative region in Nigeria, dating back originally from the division of the colony Southern Nigeria in 1954. Its first capital was Calabar. The capital was later moved to Enugu and the second capital was Umuahia. T ...

. Uchendu started singing at an early age. She later joined Professor Sonny Oti's music group under which she flourished using her vocals. In 1976, her music career shot to limelight following the release of the Homzy Sounds-produced classic titled "Love Nwantiti" off her debut LP composition ''Love Nwantiti''; before she went on to release "Waka", "Aka Bu Eze" and "Mama Hausa" which further established her in the Nigeria music industry. Her music career saw her record in several genres of music including

Igbo highlife Igbo highlife is a contemporary musical genre which combines highlife and Igbo traditional music. It first started off in the southeast region of Nigeria, during the 1920s in Lagos. The genre is primarily guitar-based music, with rare characteri ...

, pop and gospel music which she did in the later part of her career. Uchendu's

career The career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defi ...

also saw her perform outside Nigeria, most notably performing in London, England alongside Sir Warrior and his Oriental Brothers during the 1980s.

Acting

In 1986, Uchendu guest-starred as Ikemefuna's mother in NTA Network's televised version of ''

Things Fall Apart ''Things Fall Apart'' is the debut novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, first published in 1958. It depicts pre-colonial life in the southeastern part of Nigeria and the invasion by Europeans during the late 19th century. It is seen as the ...

'' in which she sang "Ikemefuna's Song". She also played Tony's mother in the 1994

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

movie '' Nneka the Pretty Serpent'', another singing role.

Discography

*''Love Nwantiti'' (1976) *''Aka Bu Eze'' (1977) *''Mama Awusa'' (1978) *''I Believe'' (1979) *''Ogadili Gi Nma'' (1982) *''Make a New Nigeria'' (1988) *''Ezigbo Dim'' (1982) *''Nye ya ekele''(1995) *''Nna cheta m''(1995)

Recognition

In recognition of her contributions to music in Nigeria, Uchendu received the national honour of

Member of the Order of the Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honour ...

by former Nigerian president

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018), titled Turakin Sokoto from 1962, was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in ...

in 1980.

Death

She died on 12 April 2005 in a hospital in

Enugu State Enugu State ( ig, Ȯra Enugu) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the south, and Anambra State to the west. ...

, Nigeria after a reported cancer-related illness. She was aged 55.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uchendu, Nelly 1950 births 2005 deaths Musicians from Anambra State 20th-century Nigerian women singers Nigerian composers Igbo singers Deaths from cancer in Nigeria Members of the Order of the Federal Republic 20th-century women composers Nigerian film actresses Nigerian television actresses Igbo actresses Actresses from Anambra State Nigerian women singers Deaths from cancer