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Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe was a celebrated Nigerian highlife musician from Atani, Anambra State, whose career lasted more than four decades. Influenced by Igbo traditions, he began performing in school choirs and bands before entering Lagos’s professional music circuit in the late 1950s. He worked with several prominent ensembles and received mentorship from trumpeter Zeal Onyia, developing a distinctive highlife style incorporating Igbo music, calypso, rumba, samba, bolero, jazz and waltz. In 1964, he founded Sound Makers International, his principal recording and performance group.
Osadebe composed more than 500 songs, often exploring love, hardship, social conduct, and everyday life through Igbo proverbs and philosophical reflections. His breakthrough came with the 1984 hit “Osondi Owendi,” while his 1981 album “Onu Kwulonjo” earned a gold disc. Later touring expanded his international audience. Osadebe died in Connecticut on May 11, 2007, aged 71, leaving an enduring legacy in Nigerian and Igbo highlife music.
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