8 Years After: Remembering Late Sunny Okosun

Late Evangelist Sunny Okosun was a leading Nigerian musician who died at Howard University Hospital, Washington DC on May 24, 2008 at the age of 61 after a brief battle with colon cancer.


Sunny Okosun hailed from the old Bendel State, now Edo State in southern Nigeria. He was from the Esan ethnic group. He named his band Ozziddi after a renowned Ijaw river god.

His first band, The Postmen, was formed in Enugu in 1965. In 1969 he joined Melody Maestros, a band led by Victor Uwaifo. From 1972 to 1974 he led a group known as Paperback Limited and then formed a new band, Ozziddi.

His 1977 song ‘Fire in Soweto’ became a major international hit. He was featured on the anti-apartheid album Sun City, and his song ‘Highlife’ was on the soundtrack of the 1986 film Something Wild.