Peter King Adeyoyin Osubu is his real birth name but widely and fondly called Peter King. He is a popular Nigerian musician gifted in several instruments like saxophone and others playing a combination of Afrobeat and Jazz.
Peter King was born in 1938 in Enugu but had his up-bringing in Lokoja, Lagos, and Port Harcourt respectively.
Peter King’s Educational Background
Peter King had his primary and secondary education in Lokoja, Nigeria before relocating to London where he studied at various schools of music, including Trinity College of Music in London in 1961.
Peter King’s Music Career
Peter King began his musical journey in 1957 when he joined the Roy Chicago band in Ibadan, playing the maracas and then the vconga drum.
He moved to other bands in Ibadan and then Lagos, playing the double bass, drums and then the alto sax.
Peter King, while in London continued his musical career and was joined by drummer Bayo Martins and trumpeter Mike Falana to form the African Messengers group. The group performed at festivals and clubs, and served as backup band for acts like The Four Tops, The Temptations and Diana Ross. The African Messengers recorded many 45rpm records. “Highlife Piccadilly”, a fusion of Highlife and jazz.
The talented Nigerian singer also formed another band ‘The Blues Builders’ with which he toured Europe and Northern Africa.
Peter King returned to Nigeria in 1969 and formed anther group, The Voice of Africa. He used the group to reach out to warring factions to lay down their arms during the Nigerian Civil War.
Peter again relocated to London in 1971. He toured Europe, America and Japan with his group Shango. He assembled and arranged a big band to back the singing group Boney M on their first live concert tour across Europe in 1977.
Peter King has so far recorded several studio albums between 1975 and 1978 including music for several plays and television shows.
Some of his albums include:
• Mikki Sounds (Orbitone, 1975)
• Omo Lewa (Orbitone, 1976)
• A Soulful Peter King (Orbitone, 1977)
• Moods (Tyrone Records, 1978)
• African Dialects (Grandstand, 1979)
• Omolewa
• Palm Wine
• Vendor (2002)
In 1979, King returned to Nigeria and formed the famous P.K band and played at various event centres and concerts including NTA, National Museum, Lagos, for some years.
Peter King is indeed creative, skillful and highly talented with a unique tone, flawless articulation and a fresh turn of mind in improvisations. He also has a leading tenor saxophone voice widely believed to have come from the Nigerian highlife and Afrobeat traditions.
King combined Afrobeat with a funk style similar to James Brown.
His School of Music
Peter King established his own School of Music in 1982 in a three-room apartment in Maza Maza, Lagos with the initial take off of about 30 students. The school which has since expanded tremendously is now located in Badagry with lecture halls, rehearsal rooms, an assembly-concert hall and hostel facilities.
The school has been assisted by Canadian musicians Oliver Jones and Archie Allen and greatly assisted by the French government. The school has graduated over two thousand students since its inception.
Peter King’s Personal Life
Peter King is married with children.
Peter King’s Net Worth
Peter King who is better known in Europe and America for his “Miliki Sound” where he plays classics is one of the richest and most influential artistes in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of over $2 million dollars.
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