Happy 75th birthday today to King Sunny Adé who was born on 9/22/46. The Nigerian musician/singer/multi-instrumentalist is considered one of the driving forces of modern world music and is a two-time Grammy nominee. Sunny Adé’ began his career early on with Moses Olaiya’s Federal Rhythm Dandies, and then went on to form The Green Spots in 1967. In the mid-1970s, Ade was influenced by Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, and Afrobeat bass lines and guitar riffs were soon incorporated into his sound and later his trademark talking drum-driven grooves. Watch King Sunny Adé live at Montreux Jazz Festival in 1983
