A huge tragedy struck Nigeria’s house of music, Friday morning, as leading gospel singer/psalmist, Sammie Okposo, died, aged 51.
Though the cause of death is still hazy, the artiste’s management in the United Kingdom said he slumped and died at about 4a.m. on Friday.
Born in Delta State on May 30, 1971, the multiple award-winning gospel music artiste started music in his early age as chorister with his local church where he played the piano for the choir at the age of 10.
The award-winning singer, music producer, and CEO of Zamar Entertainment inched his way towards the big stage in 1992, in Nollywood, where he made his mark as a soundtrack producer. And he was so good at his trade that he became a hot cake for actors and producers in no time.
Okposo hit national limelight in 2004 when he released his first album, Addicted.
His gospel super hit, Wellu-Wellu was a chart-buster even as he rose rapidly to global acclaim as an international recognized music producer.
Okposo collaborated with many other artistes in both the gospel and soul music genres, including popular gospel singer, Marvellous Odiete, with who he did Follow You which was performed regularly in Africa, Europe and North America.
Okposo also curated a series of concerts called SOPP (Sammie Okposo Praise Party). His most recent album, The Statement (2018), was produced by the Grammy-winning Kevin Bond.
The Sammie Okposo Praise Party rapidly became a solid platform that promoted and brought many up-and-coming Nigerian gospel artistes into the limelight.
On January 24, 2022, Okposo set the social media flaming with his confession of infidelity to his wife. He took to his Instagram page to offer a public apology to his wife, Ozioma, for cheating on her. The apology came a day after a lady, known only as African Doll, accused him of impregnating her and abandoning her.
The gospel music star told his fans that he would be taking a step back from his ministry to focus on restoration and seek forgiveness. He initially deleted his social media handles, but restored them a few days later.
