Songs are my therapy, she says: Who is singer Ayo?

Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin, better known by her stage name Ayo, is a German singer, songwriter, and actress of Nigerian origin.

Real Name: Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin

Birthplace: Cologne, Germany

Date of Birth: September 14, 1980

About:

- Ayo, who started playing the violin at the age of 6, continued with the piano and guitar a short time later. She wrote her first song at the age of 15.

-She joined the band "La Taste" in 1992.

- She achieved great success with her first album "Joyful", which she released in 2006.

- The album "Gravity At Last" was released in 2008, and "Billie-Eve" was released in 2011.

- She has collaborated with Keith Christopherson, Larry Campbell, Lucky Peterson, Sherrod Barnes, and Jermaine Parrish.

- In 2013, her album "Ticket To The World" met with music lovers.

- She won the Globes de Cristal Award for 'Best Female Singer' in 2014.

First Album: Joyful

First Single: Life Is Real

As soon as her first album "Joyful" was released in 2006, it attracted great attention all over Europe, from France to Poland, from Italy to Greece. She became the rising star of the new generation in world music with her albums selling more than one and a half million in 40 countries.

Ayo, who made music a way of life and traveled the world on tours, not only as a singer but also as a songwriter, won hearts with her songs combining folk-rock and soul style with African roots.

He was awarded the EBBA Award with her album "Joyful" in 2008. In March 2014, she received the "Best Female Singer" award at the Globes de Cristal Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in Europe given by the French Publishers Association in the field of culture and arts.

With "Ticket To The World", which she released in 2014, she gave life to 16 new songs full of sincerity and passion.

She had her first acting experience with the shooting of the movie "Meurtre a Paco", directed by the award-winning Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck and in which Ayo also starred.

About Ayo

Ayọ (Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin) was born in 1980 in Frechen, near Cologne, Germany. The German singer-songwriter of Nigerian origin uses the name Ayo, which is the Yoruba equivalent of her first name Joy, as her stage name.

Ayo's son, Nile, was born in 2005, and her daughter, Billie-Eve, was born in 2010. Ayo, who settled in New York for a while in 2007, lives mostly in Paris.

The life of the singer, who was assigned by UNICEF France President Jacques Hintzy to work for the education rights of all children in the world on February 4, 2009, was turned into a 90-minute documentary film by the French production company MK2 in the same year. The film, directed by Raphaël Duroy, was released in 2010.

Ayọ's third studio album is named after her daughter Billie-Eve and was recorded in New York. Ayo, who worked with famous musicians such as Lenny Kravitz's guitarist Craig Ross, rapper Saul Williams, Matthieu Chedid, and Gail Ann Dorsey, is also accompanied by David Bowie's bass guitarist in the album.

In 2013, Ayọ started recording her fourth album, Ticket To The World and released it in time for the autumn. Jay Newland, who produced her first two albums, appears as the producer on the new album. While the album's first single, "Fire", was released in the summer of 2013, the second version of the song was accompanied by French rap star Youssoupha.

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7 Things to Know About Nigerian-German Singer Ayo

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