Rolling Dollar dies at 87; Jonathan, Fashola pay tribute
Fatai Olayiwola Olagunju, a.k.a. Fatai Rolling Dollar, is dead. He died at the age of 86.
He breathed his last at the Ahmadiyya Hospital, Agbado-Ijaiye, Lagos after struggling with health for several weeks.
He was born on July 22, 1926 in Ede, Osun State.
Days before he died, he had rubbished reports claiming he was in coma as a result of a protracted illness, saying he was never in coma.
The report had said that the oldest artiste on the Nigerian music circuit was receiving treatment at a Lagos State hospital where he had been hospitalised for about three weeks. The octogenarian artiste was said to have been rushed to the hospital after performing at an event.
A guitarist, singer and exponent of the native thumb piano (Agidigbo), the 86-year-old veteran of West African folk music was one of the greatest living influences on West African contemporary music.
The ex-seaman was a walking encyclopedia of neo-traditional African music. Olagunju traversed the crest and trough of West Africa's musical landscape in an attempt to track the sub-continent's rhythmic genealogy.
He started his musical career in 1953, and with over seven decades' career, he directly spawned and mentored some of the most successful musicians in West Africa's history such as Ebenezer Obey and who directly influenced others like King Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti, the late Dr. Orlando Owoh and Bob Aladeniyi.
The son of an Ede chief, Olagunju grew up at Lagos Island, Isale- Eko, where he encountered the music of juju legend such as Tunde King and Irewole Denge.
One of the popular players of the music was Tunde King. He once had a problem and went back to Freetown, Sierra Leone, from where he picked up another idea for the music.
On getting back to Lagos, he modified the palm-wine music. But the originator of this music form was a band called the Jolly Orchestra, popularly known as Atari Ajanaku. A musician called Harbour Grant led it. In his band was another musician that left for London where he played in a hotel called Hotel Afrique – Ambrose Campbell.
Olagunju's musical style was a fusion of native Agidigbo with broader highlife and Latin themes,
The Latin influence being as a result of his birth and background in Lagos, with a large immigrant Brazilian and Hispanic population in the mid-19th century, up to the early 20th century. More lately, he experimented with Afro-Funk and Afro-beat.
His music evolved from a sound called 'palm wine' music and it was played far back 1939. By then, it consisted of the palm wine guitar - a box guitar, Yoruba vocals and the sekere.
Olagunju was known for his verve and dexterity on the guitar. His zest for life and energy, even in old age, was also a marvel to all that beheld him performing.
Years back, it seemed Olagunju was in the nightfall of his career, but he took many by surprise and the Nigerian scene as he stormed back with his hit song.
He got a new lease of life after years in the doldrums, through Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who revived his career and fortunes, after his performance at the World Music Day on June 21, 2000 at the Maison de France, Alliance Francais, then on Aromire Street, off Kingsway Road, Victoria Island.
Between 2003 and 2004, he returned to Nigeria's music scene with three landmark albums and was finally recognised as a virtuoso exponent of neo-traditional highlife rhythms and a precursor to juju music. Some of his hit tracks include Won kere si number wa, Iyawo Iyawo, Eko Akete (Agidigbo Blues), Morocco Special, Omolere Aiye, I'm Not A Banker, Saworo Maro, Feso Jaiye, Ori Wa Adara, Aduke and a whole lot of songs.
The late artiste, who married the actress of Yoruba home movies, Bunmi Akinbo Gold, last year, had been involved with two other women apart from his very first wife who died in 1999, one is a German and the other from Ibadan. He sired 16 children.
Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Edem Duke, lamented the death of the veteran musician. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja, conveying his condolence.
While reacting to the death of the musician, Orits Williki said Olagunju lived well and had gone to rest, noting: 'Papa lived well and nobody can complain that an icon has gone home to rest. The way he lived in the last decade has been remarkable. Although his passing highlife music has suffered a blow, but younger artists like P-Square and many others are happily doing a revival form of highlife in contemporary form.'
Chairman of O'jez Entertainment Limited, Joseph Odobeatu, owners of O'jez Music and chain of celebrity restaurants, said in a statement by his media company, Media Image Managers: 'Well, it's very sad to hear the news of the demise of the legend Pa Fatai Rolling Dollar. The O'jez family is still in shock because Rolling Dollar has been very much part of the family in the past 12 years.'
Others who paid tributes yesterday included Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Director-General, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), Prof. Tunde Babawale; Sidney Esiri, popularly known as Dr Sid of the MAVIN; the Chief Executive Officer of Storm Record, Obi Asika; Chief Tony Okoroji, Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji, General Manager, COSON.
Meanwhile tributes have poured in from many Nigerian leaders, including President Goodluck Jonathan and Gov. Babatunde FAshola of Lagos Fashola.
President Goodluck Jonathan expressed grief at the death of the music icon..
The President said he shared the grief of all lovers of music over the death of the illustrious entertainer, master singer, guitarist and exponent of the native thumb piano who continued to perform and exhibit his unqualified love for the music profession at an age when most of his contemporaries had long retired.
National leader, Action Congress of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu also described the death of Fatai Rolling Dollar as a colossal loss to both the Music industry and Nigerians.'
'He was in a class of his own. An exceptionally talented musician, Fatai Rolling Dollar was way ahead of his peers. He was a great musical talent, who churned out great music. The originality of his lyrics was such that they were never easily forgotten even as they resonated across different ages and societal strata.
Tinubu said the music maestro remains one of the wonders of the Nigerian music industry in the past century. 'Like millions of followers, I mourn his passing away, but I celebrate a life of excellence and a brilliant musical career'.
'Fatai must be remembered as one of Nigeria's musical icon, a musical historian of note and a master of his art whose music delighted millions for decades. Tinubu prayed for the wife and children to have the fortitude to bear their loss and God's protection', a statement by Tinubu said.
On his part, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) said the loss of the musical innovator would reverberate around the musical world and beyond.
In a condolence letter to Mrs Funmilayo Olagunju, the widow of the late musician, Governor Fashola said he was a first rate guitarist under whose tutelage several other musical legends learnt to play the instrument. ''Your husband was a musical innovator who made a great contribution to the profile of Nigerian Highlife music on the global stage,'' he said.
According to the Governor, Rolling Dollar is assured of his place amongst the pantheon of Nigerian musical greats with hits like 'Won Kere si Number Wa' and 'Saworo' enduring in the memory of generations to come.
''Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s it was impossible to escape the presence of this iconic genius across Lagos. I am pleased and gratified that in the latter part of his life Lagos State was able to reacquaint itself once again with his singular talents,'' he said.