Ebenezer Obey, legendary singer, joined the octogenarian league this weekend.
Born on April 3, 1942, Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu Olasupo Obey-Fabiyi better known as Ebenezer Obey, is also known by the stage name “Chief Commander”.
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In this piece, Daily Trust brings you eight things you should know about the singer.
- Obey married Juliana Olaide Olufade in 1963. His wife, known as Lady Evangelist Juliana Obey-Fabiyi, died at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital on 23 August 2011, aged 67. They have several children and grandchildren.
- He began his musical training-cum-career as a member of the school band at Methodist Primary School, Idogo. He rose through the ranks to become the bandleader, and his time as a band member and then bandleader shaped him into a beautiful and harmonious music maker.
- He also began his professional career in the mid-1950s after moving to Lagos. After tutelage under Fatai Rolling-Dollar’s band, he formed a band called The International Brothers in 1964, playing highlife-jùjú fusion. The band later changed into Inter-Reformers in the early-1970s, with a long list of Juju album hits on the West African Decca musical label.
- Obey made Juju music more enjoyable by using more Yoruba drums and mixing these drums with the guitar sound. He also made sure that there was less singing and more instrumentals in his songs. This allowed people to revel in his tunes and reminisce on every sentence he sings.
- The “Chief Commander’s” musical strengths lie in weaving intricate Yoruba axioms into dance-floor compositions. As is characteristic of Nigerian Yoruba social-circle music, the Inter-Reformers band excel in praise-singing for rich Nigerian socialites and business tycoons.
- He is also renowned for Christian spiritual themes in his music and has since the early-1990s retired into Nigerian gospel music ministry.
- Obey’s first album, ‘Ewo Ohun Oju Ri Laye’, consists of 5 songs, which were released in 1964 by DECCA records.
- His mother objected to his music career initially, but she later became one of his biggest fans.
