King Sunny Ade, his life experiences in this interview with Punch's Adeola Balogun:
A lot of people might find it very difficult to believe that you are 67 with your looks; what is the magic?
There is no magic; I just find myself like this.
It’s true people tell me that I don’t look my
age and whenever they say so, I get back home
and look at myself in the mirror. But within
myself, I know I am old. Truth is, I don’t have any magic than to give God the glory for a good health.
Maybe you do sports to keep you in shape.
Well, I wouldn’t call myself a sports man in
that sense but I love sports. Within my
compound, I have a scotch court, tennis court,
small basketball court and other outdoor
sports but that doesn’t mean I do sports often.
The stage alone is enough sport where I dance
and jump all over the place. I think that I am just lucky because I don’t wake up in the morning and do any exercise like a workout
Before some artistes go on stage, they either drink some stuff or smoke to be able to perform very well. What do you depend on that makes you do what you do on stage?
Let me just put it this way that I am just
lucky. I don’t drink and I don’t smoke. I don’t
do drugs and I don’t like people who do drugs.
Even within my band, ordinary cigarette
smoking irritates me; I don’t like it. I believe
that music on its own is enough to make me
high because I love doing it with passion. I
don’t need any drug to make me high on stage.
I am addicted to music without necessarily taking anything to make me high.
Do you have a particular eating habit or diet to keep you in this athletic shape?
No, I tell people now that I have put on weight but they don’t believe me especially when I watch my past videos. I just don’t know why I have this shape because I don’t have a specific time of eating. As I am talking to you now, I have not eaten anything since yesterday.
Occasionally, I eat late and anytime I wake up is when I have my breakfast no matter the time of the day. I don’t have any eating pattern and whenever I want to eat, I don’t eat much because I would be thinking that I would not be able to sleep.
What was your dream as a young boy?
When I was young, I wanted to be an engineer
and at the same time, I wanted to be a lawyer.
At another time, I wanted to be a doctor. In fact, there was no time I wanted to be a
musician because being born into royalty, it was unthinkable to think that way. But I loved
music; I loved dancing and people who danced.
I loved to dance to any kind of music. Then as a young boy of seven or eight, I used to pray
for branded vans promoting new products like Michelin, to come to my community where I could listen to music and watch people dance.
At times, I would just join to dance and people
would be clapping for me. I would forget
myself so much until one relative came along
to pull my ears or beat me for dancing around.
So, when I realised that nobody in the family
wanted me to dance or watch those who
danced or played music, it did not occur to
me to wish to become a musician. I thought I
would be a good lawyer because nobody won
me over in any argument. At the same time
too, I thought I would be an engineer because
then, you would find me at any refuse dump
where I would be looking for used wire and
batteries which I coupled together to produce
light. Then I would like to know what was
doing the talking in the radio and people thought I would end up as an engineer. I learnt carpentry and painting.
How? What of school?
I was going to school but anytime I closed, I
went to the carpentry workshop to learn.
During holidays too, I was always at the
workshop working. Again, I had a brother who
repaired motorcycles and his shop was beside
where I was learning carpentry. I more or less
was learning so many things at the same time.
But why did your parents take you to the carpentry workshop to learn even when you were schooling?
No, it was on my own. I was very bright at
school because the little I could read was
enough for me to pass. Once I did my
homework, I would dash across to the
workshop and learn. Despite this, I never failed
in school except once when my teacher
intentionally failed me. I reported him to the
headmaster and the teacher was sacked. We
were 39 in class and the teacher said I came
14th instead of being in the first three. Even at
that, how could I be said to have failed in the
14th position out of 39? It looked very strange
to me and I walked into the headmaster’s
office and reported the teacher. After
reporting the man, the headmaster told me
not to tell anybody and that he knew what to
do. I just discovered that I didn’t see the
teacher again; it was later that I learnt that the
teacher had been sacked.
But as a bright boy, why didn’t you proceed to the university?
That was my dream and intention. You know, I
lost my father when I was young and I loved
my mum so much that I thought it would be a
burden for her to continue to fund my
education alone with that of my siblings. So,
out of pity for her, I decided to be doing
something to help rather than depending on
her to cater for me. When I was still very
young in school, my mother who used to
weave aso oke always gave me new cloth for
my school uniform every term with different
designs. I joined the Boys Brigade and during
the holidays, we used to go to the white
people’s home like the DO (District Officer) for
any job and sometimes, they would dash us
some money. I used to go to the farm to look
for bamboo to make cages for the birds that I
caught. I would then give out the birds
together with the cage and asked to be given
anything in exchange. I wanted to go to the
university; in fact when I ran to Lagos from
Abeokuta, my people back home thought I was
in the University of Lagos.
When I was leaving Abeokuta for Lagos, I
actually told some colleagues that I was going
to Lagos to try my luck but that if my family
asked of me, they should tell them that I
gained admission to University of Lagos. For
almost three years, my family thought I was in
the university in Lagos. It was not until I
formed my own group that an uncle came and
asked me whether I was actually Sunny Ade. I
said yes and he said how come; what happened
to your university education? I said well, I had
to take to music when I could no longer pay
myself through school. He almost slapped me,
accusing me of lying to the family that I was in
school. Then I now made him to sit down and
explained to him and he understood and
promised to tell the family what I was actually
doing. My family didn’t approve of what I was
doing for almost 15 years until I really made
the name. They found it difficult to know that I
was actually Sunny Ade instead of Sunday
Adeniyi. Again in those days, they could only
hear you on the radio; the television then,
WNTV was very competitive for everyone to be
featured. My mother insisted that I must go to
school instead of playing music. She asked me
how I wanted my father to feel in the grave
that his son was only good enough to sing
instead of being a lawyer or an engineer as the
case may be.
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