Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions of African metre and western jazz melodies. It uses the melodic and main rhythmic structures of traditional African music, but is typically played with Western instruments. Highlife is characterized by jazzy horns and guitars which lead the band and its use of the two-finger plucking guitar style that is typical of African music. Recently it has acquired an uptempo, synth-driven sound.
There are many styles of traditional and modern music of Ghana, due to Ghana's worldwide geographic position on the African continent.
Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Steven Lee Cropper, sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. He also acted as the producer of many of these records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 36th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, while he has won two Grammy Awards from his seven nominations.
Tony Oladipo Allen was a Nigerian and French drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived".
Afro rock is a style of rock music with African influences. Afro rock is a dynamic interplay between Western rock music and African musical elements such as rhythm, melodies and instrumentation. Afro rock bands and artists in the late 1960s and early 1970s included Osibisa, Assagai and Lafayette Afro Rock Band.
John Collins is a UK-born guitarist, harmonica player and percussionist who first went to Ghana as a child in 1952 for a brief period and later became involved in the West African music scene after returning to Ghana in 1969. He is a naturalised Ghanaian.
Alfred Benjamin Crentsil was a Ghanaian musician. He was one of the "big three" of contemporary Ghanaian vocalists. Crentsil won the Fontomfrom Evergreen Award, an honor bestowed upon a musician with 15–20 years of continuous music experience. He died on 13 July 2022.
Nana Kwaku Okyere Duah popularly known as TiC and formerly Tic Tac is a hiplife musician originally from Kwamo, a suburb in the Ashanti Region in Ghana.
Ebo Taylor is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, record producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.
Akosua Agyapong, is a Ghanaian female highlife singer and television personality. She was honored by the organizers of 3Music Awards for her achievement in the entertainment industry in Ghana.
Bernard George Kobena Brako, known professionally as Ben Brako, is a Ghanaian highlife artiste. He rose to prominence in the mid- to late 1980s, with the release of his first solo studio album, Baya, which he also produced and wrote, in 1987.
Paulina Oduro is a Ghanaian highlife musician, actress, talent show judge and stage performer.
Diana Hopeson is Ghanaian gospel singer and a former president of the Musicians Union of Ghana. Her contributions to the Ghanaian Art industry won her a National Honors Award, which was presented to her by former president John Agyekum Kufuor in 2007. In March 2021, she was among the Top 30 Most Influential Women in Music by the 3Music Awards Women's Brunch. She was also a GHAMRO board member and also the Chairperson of the Interim Management Board of the Copyright Society of Ghana. In the same year, she was selected by BJ Sam, the Nigerian international singer and producer, to represent the Ghana in the first universal Christmas music project with other global music icons including Hollywood Actor Paul Raci, Bollywood playback singer Jaspinder Narula, and Swiss actress Christina Zurbrügg.
Jewel Ackah was a Ghanaian highlife and gospel musician. He composed the lyrics of "Arise Arise," the party anthem of the centre-left Ghanaian political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), popularly sung to the tune of the Christian hymn, "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus". He was dubbed by media pundits as the "Prince of Highlife".
John William Hansen popularly known as Jerry Hansen was a Ghanaian highlife musician. He was a singer, a composer, an arranger, a saxophonist and a pioneer of highlife music. He was the bandleader and founder of the Ramblers International Band. He was a founding member and the first president of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).
Daughters of Glorious Jesus (DoG-J) is a veteran Ghanaian gospel group formed in 1989. The musical group is composed of Cynthia Appiadu, Edna Sarpong and Monica Owusu Ansah. They sing in English and Twi. With over fifty songs DoG-J are
Mary Ghansah is a veteran Ghanaian gospel musician and ordained reverend minister. She is best known for her worship career which spanned over 40 years.
The Eastern Music Awards (EMA) is an award scheme specially created to honor excellence in creative art by Hi5 Entertainment. It is organized annually with support from PATER The Presenters A7ssociation Eastern Region, Eastern MUSIGA and other stakeholders. The awards scheme see to put more focus on music for industry players from the Eastern Region of Ghana. The awards night every year features artists from Various parts of the Eastern Region. The 4th Edition of the Eastern Music Awards took place on Saturday, 19 December 2020.
Kwame Gyasi (1929–2012) was a Ghanaian highlife musician. He originated the Sikyi highlife sub-genre which combined electric organ with the known highlife genres.
