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{{Short description|Ghanaian highlife musician (1945–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| birth_name        = Nana Kwame Ampadu
| image             =
| image_size        =
| landscape         = yes
| alt               =
| caption           =
| alias             = Odwontofoohene<br>Paa Steele
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1945|03|31|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = Obo Kwahu, [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]]
| origin            = Ghana
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|2021|09|28|1945|03|31}}
| death_place       = [[Accra]], Ghana
| genre             = [[Highlife]]
| occupation        = [[Musician]]
| instrument        = vocal, guitar
| years_active      = 1963–2020
| label             =
| website           = {{URL|http://www.nanakwameampadu.com}}
}}
'''Nana Kwame Ampadu''' (31 March 1945 – 28 September 2021) was a Ghanaian musician and composer credited with numerous popular [[highlife]] tracks and he is known to have composed over 800 songs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=My Life |url=https://www.nanakwameampadu.com/my-life |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=nanakwameampadu1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nana Kwame Ampadu at 50 |url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/entertainment/showbiz-news/nana-kwame-ampadu-at-50.html |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=Graphic Online |language=en-gb}}</ref> He was also known as ''Adwomtofo Nyinaa hempɔn''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 October 2021|title=Nana Ampadu predicted his death - Mark Okraku reveals|url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Nana-Ampadu-predicted-his-death-Mark-Okraku-reveals-1370419|access-date=2 October 2021|website=GhanaWeb|language=en}}</ref> Ampadu was the lead singer, chief songwriter, and founder of the "African Brothers Band". He is regarded as a pioneer of highlife and afrobeat music and one of the most illustrious Ghanaian musicians of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nana Ampadu: Everything you need to know about the late Ghanaian highlife musician |url=https://yen.com.gh/facts-lifehacks/biographies/200432-nana-ampadu-everything-late-ghanaian-highlife-musician/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nana Ampadu: Ghana highlife legend die at age 76 |url=https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-58732510}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Everything you need to know about Nana Ampadu |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Everything-you-need-to-know-about-Nana-Ampadu-1371043}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=My Life |url=https://www.nanakwameampadu.com/my-life}}</ref>
==Music==
Ampadu's "African Brothers Band" was formed in 1963. One of the founding members of  African Brothers Band was [[Eddie Donkor]].<ref name="africanconsult">{{cite web |title=Legends of Ghanaian Highlife Music: Senior Eddie Donkoh |url=http://african-research.com/research/legends-of-ghanaian-highlife-music-senior-eddie-donkoh/ |website=african-research.com/ |publisher=African Research Consult |accessdate=30 July 2020}}</ref>
The name was in support of the call by [[Kwame Nkrumah]] for African unity. The group was later renamed the African Brothers International Band in 1973.<ref name="profile"/>
Ampadu came to prominence in 1967 when he released his song ''Ebi Te Yie'' (or "Some Are Well Seated"), a song that was seen as potentially critical of the then-governing [[National Liberation Council]] and disappeared from the airwaves, only returning after the end of military rule. In 1973 he won a nationwide competition in Ghana to be crowned the ''Odwontofoohene'', or "Singer-in-Chief".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anyidoho |first1=Kofi |last2=Gibbs |first2=James |title=FonTomFrom: Contemporary Ghanaian Literature, Theatre and Film |date=2000 |publisher=Rodopi |pages=142–146 |isbn=9042012730 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BktpS2StnxQC&dq=nana+ampadu&pg=PA143 |accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref>
His musical career also involved him in electoral politics, including composing a song for [[Jerry Rawlings]]'s [[National Democratic Congress (Ghana)|National Democratic Congress]] party to use in the 1992 election campaign. Ampadu also released a song critical of an attempt to disqualify Rawlings from the 1992 election based on him being half-Scottish.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Adrianne R. |last2=Adjaye |first2=Joseph K. |title=Language, Rhythm, & Sound: Black Popular Cultures Into the Twenty-first Century |date=1997 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |isbn=0822971771 |page=71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGIRAq5w4ngC&dq=nana+ampadu&pg=PA71 |accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref>
==Influence and achievements==
Nana Ampadu toured with the S. K. Oppong Drama Group, which performed concerts and short plays on the programmes of his band. This group later evolved to become the cast of [[Osofo Dadzie]], the most popular Ghana TV drama series for many years. One of his songs, ''Obra'', became the theme song for ''[[Obra (TV drama)|Obra]]'', another very popular Ghanaian TV drama series. He also wrote the theme song for the national ''Operation Feed Yourself'' programme of the military [[National Redemption Council]] for national food sufficiency.<ref name="super-od">{{cite web |title=Super O.D., Biography |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/person/Super-O-D-226 |website=www.ghanaweb.com |access-date=1 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="awards"/>
==Personal life==
Ampadu was born at Obo Kwahu in the [[Eastern Region (Ghana)|Eastern Region]] of Ghana on 31 March 1945.<ref name="nkampadu">{{Cite web |title=Nana Kwame Ampadu 1 and his African Brothers Band Int. |url=http://nanakwameampadu.com/mylife.htm |accessdate=6 June 2015 |website=nanakwameampadu.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=GBC |date=2022-10-08 |title=The Highlife Legend, Nana Kwame Ampadu |url=https://www.gbcghanaonline.com/features/nana-kwame-ampadu/2022/ |access-date=2022-10-19 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Pastors Chase Nana Ampadu Music Videos |url = https://www.modernghana.com/music/15857/3/pastors-chase-nana-ampadu-music-videos.html| date=5 August 2011 | author=Daily Guide | publisher=Modern Ghana | accessdate = 31 May 2019}}</ref> His birth name was Patrick Kwame Ampadu and his parents were Opanyin Kwame Ampadu and Mercy Afua Ntiriwaa, both of [[Obo Kwahu]] in the Eastern Region of Ghana.<ref name="profile">{{cite web |title=Profile of highlife legend Nana Ampadu |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Profile-of-highlife-legend-Nana-Ampadu-1369396 |website=GhanaWeb |access-date=1 October 2021 |date=30 September 2021}}</ref>
==Awards==
Nana Ampadu won a number of awards in Ghana.<ref name="awards">{{cite web |title=Achievements and Awards |url=https://www.nanakwameampadu.com/achievements-and-awards |website=nanakwameampadu1 |access-date=1 October 2021 |language=en |date=2016}}</ref>
* Grand Medal of the Volta Civil Division in 1977
* Odwontofoohene by the Arts Council of Ghana in 1973
* the first ever National Dance Band Competition in 1972
== Death ==
Nana Ampadu died on 28 September 2021, at the age of 76, at the Legon Hospital in Accra.<ref>{{cite news|date=29 September 2021|title=Ghana mourn highlife legend Nana Ampadu wey die|work=BBC News Pidgin|url=https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-58732510|access-date=3 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=28 September 2021|title=Legendary highlife musician Nana Ampadu passes on at age 76|url=https://citinewsroom.com/2021/09/legendary-highlife-musician-nana-ampadu-passes-on-at-age-76/|access-date=2 October 2021|website=Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Highlife legend, Nana Kwame Ampadu passes on - MyJoyOnline.com|url=https://www.myjoyonline.com/highlife-legend-nana-kwame-ampadu-passes-on/|access-date=2021-10-07|website=www.myjoyonline.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Discogs artist|Nana Ampadu}}
* {{IMDb name|10700485}}
* [https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Best-of-Highlife-legend-Nana-Kwame-Ampadu-s-songs-1367545 Best of Highlife legend Nana Kwame Ampadu's songs] on ''GhanaWeb''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ampadu, Nana}}
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Ghanaian highlife musicians]]
[[Category:People from Eastern Region (Ghana)]]