Ghana’s highlife Musicians

Akosua Agyapong (also spelled Agyepong; born 17 November 1959), is a Ghanaian female highlife singer and television personality. She was honored by the organizers of 3Music Awards for her achievement in the entertainment industry in Ghana. Early life Akosua Agyapong was born on 17 November 1959 in Accra, Ghana, to Asante and Akyem parents. She had her secondary education at the Holy Child High School in Cape Coast. Her mother …

Kwadwo Akwaboah (died 16 May 2023), popularly known as Akwaboah Senior (Snr.), was a Ghanaian singer-songwriter and record producer from Mampong Beposo. He was known for the popular song ”Awerɛkyekyerɛ”, ”Hini Me” and many others. He was the father of the renowned Ghanaian musician Akwaboah Jnr. Life and career Akwaboah Snr. was born in Mampong Beposo. Akwaboah …

Akwasi Ampofo Adjei (1947–2004) also known as Mr A.A.A was a Ghanaian highlife musician. Career He was a teacher by profession but because of the influence that music had on his life he abandoned teaching profession, and went into the music industry. He recorded his first song, a single called Obiara nfan’adwene mbra which literally …

Asabea Cropper (also known as Queen Asabea) is a Ghanaian female high-life singer and saxophonist. She is known for her ‘love and passion’ for headgear styles like the Kilimanjaro style. She claimed her grandmother and mother taught her in 1975. During the URTNA Awards, she was honored as the ’Queen of Highlife Music’. Career She learnt how …

Kwame Asare, best known as Jacob Sam (1903 on the Cape Coast – 1950s), was the first to record Ghanaian highlife music and was the first highlife guita. Life and career He was a trained goldsmith. He moved to Kumasi and formed the Kumasi Trio. He was taught guitar by a Liberian seaman. He is known to be the first Ghanaian …

Awurama Badu (Ewurama Badu) was a Ghanaian highlife musician born in 1945 and from Banko in the Sekyere Kumawu District of the Ashanti Region. Popularly known for her stage performance and hit songs, she was a gifted and talented Highlife musician who had a breakthrough when the music industry was largely dominated by males with few females …

Ekow Zagla (1980 – 28 July 2019), also known as Bak Tye or Baka Tee, was a Ghanaian hiplife artist and rapper. Career He was known for his hit track in 2004 known as Yenpie featuring Samini. In his prime he was featured by Mzbel in her song Awaso Me and Kofi Nti among many others. Death He …

Bernard George Kobena Brako, known professionally as Ben Brako (born 20 May 1952), is a Ghanaian highlife artiste. He rose to prominence in the mid- to late 1980s, with the release of his first solo studio album, Baya, which he also produced and wrote, in 1987. Early life Brako was born on 20 May 1952 in Accra, Ghana, …

Theophilus Tagoe (born 1 May 1982, disappeared 6 July 2014), popularly known as Castro or Castro Under Fire, was a Ghanaian hiplife recording artist and musician. Early life and career He was born in Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana in 1982 to Lydia Tagoe (a trader) and a Mr. Cofie (an accountant). He had his primary and Junior high education …

Jewel Ackah (c. 1945 – 27 April 2018) was a Ghanaian highlife and gospel musician. He composed the lyrics of “Arise Arise,” the party anthem of the centre-left Ghanaian political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), popularly sung to the tune of the Christian hymn, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”. He was dubbed by media pundits as the …