Come September 2016, world-renowned musician King Sunny Ade will turn 70. Ahead of his 70th birthday, the highly-revered musician has in an interview revealed his staying power 50 years after he started out in entertainment. On his staying power, KSA as he is fondly known said, “My mother used to tell me that you cannot carry the whole burden of the whole world on your head. Do your best and leave the rest. I always say God, thank you for allowing King Sunny Ade to still be where he is now. I still have a lot of years to go if you wish that for me. When I look back and I see all the ups and downs.
“When I look back to see where I started from, the years, the months, the weeks, the days if you calculate them over 70 years, for you to have been on the planet, there is nothing you can say than to roll on the ground or the floor and start thanking God. He is the only one that does it and getting people to love you. At every stage of my music, I always study what people want to hear and dance to. I keep on asking myself: how do I cook a music, (just like you cook stew) that the people will continue to love and it would not fade? That is the trend that has informed Sunny Ade’s music. So, in my music, you can find every music there, from Juju to Fuji, highlife. That is how I have tried to stay relevant in the past 50 years. I have been playing for the past 50 years and I am still ready to go.”
