Where is Nigeria’s Queen Of Reggae, Evi Edna Ogholi?

Evi-Edna Ogholi dominated the airwaves with her favorite genre of music, reggae, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was unusual to find a female performer in that genre of music at the time. Her songs were also socially relevant and beneficial to the community as a whole. In 1987, the Isoko-born musician released her debut album, My Kind of Music. The album boldly established her as Nigeria’s first genuine female reggae artist. The album’s success earned her the moniker “Queen of Nigeria reggae.” She followed that with three more albums: On The Move, Happy Birthday, and Step by Step.

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These three albums were hugely successful, with each album going platinum (over one million album copies sold). It also provided her with the opportunity to tour West Africa, where she wowed audiences in 1989. She was about 23 years old at the time. Due to her success, Ogholi was named a Pepsi ambassador in 1990, and she appeared in a commercial for the brand alongside Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Charly Boy, and Femi Kuti. She had married her producer and manager, Emma Ogosi, around this time. The couple had two children: Dumebi Odezi Ogosi and Adora Onome Ogosi. The couple later divorced. Later, Ogholi admitted to being a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her ex-husband. It was largely the reason she left Nigeria’s music scene and fled the country for her own safety. However, the mother of two has moved on from that horrible phase in her past.

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Evi Edna Ogholi has been based in Paris, France, where she has found a new home, despite the fact that she misses home and believes there is no place like home. The musician volunteers for the United Nations Children’s Educational Fund in Paris (UNICEF). Her involvement with the organization consumed nearly nineteen years of her valuable time. She claims she is now fluent in French, which help her work in the global organization. Ogholi is still active musically and has been busy performing, particularly along the West African coast, where she has toured virtually every country. She has performed in many African countries since leaving Nigeria, including Gambia, Senegal, Burkina Faso (multiple times), Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and others.

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