King Sunny Ade Turns 80: Throwback To His Gold Rolls-Royce Interview In 1984

Nigerian juju music legend and multi-instrumentalist, Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye, popularly known as King Sunny Ade, turned 80 on Tuesday, September 22, marking another milestone in the remarkable career of one of Africa’s most influential musicians.

To celebrate the occasion, Autojosh takes a throwback look at an interesting chapter of his younger years — his Rolls-Royce ownership and a memorable interview conducted inside the hand-built British-made luxury car in 1984.

Sunny Ade acquired the Rolls-Royce while he was in his 30s, becoming the first Nigerian musician to own the prestigious British luxury car. At the time, the expensive acquisition also attracted criticism from some people who viewed the purchase as an attempt to show off.

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“From that point it became history that I was the first Nigerian musician to own a Rolls Royce. People thought I did it intentionally because I want to show off,” Sunny Ade later recalled in his autobiography, KSA: My Life, My Music, while discussing the perception surrounding his Rolls-Royce ownership.

But the music icon’s Rolls-Royce Silver Spur story was in fact linked to an experience he had when he felt insulted after being told to get a taxi by himself when he asked for a car hire while at the Island Records office in London.

Recalling the incident in his memoir, he said: “I went to Island Record office in London that very morning and when we finished discussions I said, ‘Can you help me call a car hire?’ And someone said, ‘Go across the street, you’d see a black cab’.”

He recalled feeling offended by the suggestion, saying: “Honestly, from my own personal ignorance, I felt insulted. I said, ‘Me, go across the street for taxi?’” He was reportedly told that major artistes, including Bob Marley, also used black cabs.

Looking back on the decision to buy the Rolls-Royce, however, King Sunny Ade acknowledged that his reaction may have influenced him. “Looking back, I think I was a little bit impatient because I allowed what I felt was a poor treatment meted out to me earlier to affect my decision. But it was pure ignorance.”

More than four decades after that memorable interview, the image of King Sunny Ade being chauffeured in his gold Rolls-Royce remains an intriguing snapshot of a Nigerian music star at the height of his international rise. His six-decade career has since cemented his place as one of Nigeria’s most influential juju musicians.

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