Legendary Highlife Musicians Remember Nana Ampadu

Pat Thomas performing

The crème de la crème of Ghana’s highlife music scene gathered over the weekend to celebrate the memory of late legendary high life musician, Nana Kwame Ampadu.
This was at his 40-day observation held on Saturday, November 6, at the Tesano Police Depot in Accra.
The ceremony was among other objectives to also mourn and pay tribute to the great works of the late musician who was known for composing over 800 songs in his lifetime.
A number of his colleagues including Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, AB Crentsil, Pat Thomas and a host of others were there to commiserate with his family.
They also performed to guests who attended the ceremony. Many of them believe Nana Ampadu memory will forever live on in their hearts and minds.
Nana died on Tuesday, September 28 after his battle with a yet to be confirmed ailment. He died at age 76.
His unfortunate death was characterized by some controversies including who could rescue him from death. Some industry greats blamed his demise on a doctor who allegedly didn’t show up on time to treat him.
There were also complaints about him not being celebrated enough by stakeholders in the showbiz industry.
The 40-day event was therefore a platform to celebrate and tout his legacy.
Ampadu was one of Ghana’s illustrious musicians. He was credited with numerous popular highlife tracks and he is known to have composed over 800 songs.
Ampadu’s “African Brothers Band” was formed in 1963. But he came to prominence in 1967 when he released his song Ebi Te Yie. He has since gone on to release hits upon hits.

 

By Francis Addo