We announce the passing unto glory of our Patriarch, Mr Samuel Babafemi Esho popularly known and referred to as Baba Esho, Baba Musician amongst others.
Baba Esho departed to greater glory on Monday, June 17, 2024, after a brief illness at the age of 77. Chief Femi Esho was born on October 29, 1946, in Ilesa, Osun State, Nigeria.
Baba Esho was the Chairman of the Evergreen Musical Company and the Founder of the Evergreen Music Heritage Foundation until his demise.
Baba Esho was a mentor and “encyclopedia” to many Highlife music aficionados.
He will be remembered as one who gave so much of himself to see to the “immortality” of the musical works of Nigerian Highlife, Juju, Sakara, Apala, Afrobeat and a crop of other Nigerian/African genres of indigenous music.
His office and studios in Surulere, which were initially in Shomolu, are a market and museum of the works of great artistes, including E.T. Mensah, Zeal Onyia aka Obi of Trumpet, Haruna Isola, Ramblers Dance Band, Dele Ojo, and Osita Osadebe.
While others include Osibisa, Eddy Okonta, Roy Chicago, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Julius Arba, Adeolu Akinsanya, Victor Abimbola Olaiya and Ebenezer Obey, Evergreen Music also preserves works of icons like Herbert Ogunde and Olanrewaju Adepoju.
In May 2024, the partnership between Chief Femi Esho, Founder of Evergreen Musical Company and Dr Daniel Olukoya, Founder of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry, was announced.
The edifice would accommodate a music museum, music library, and gallery showcasing a burst of artists and over 1,000 pictures of Nigerian musicians from 1914 to date. She explained that there would also be relics of the musicians’ costumes, old musical instruments, an event centre for music concerts, a cinema theatre, and a recording studio.
Esho’s passion for music began early, as he started collecting music at the tender age of 12.
He hosted the weekly show “Highlife Renaissance” on Raypower, Nigeria’s first private radio station, for about three years, where he fervently promoted evergreen music, particularly Highlife.
In 2014, to mark Nigeria’s centenary celebration, Esho reviewed a century of Nigerian music, from 1914 to 2014, on a special program broadcast on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), reflecting the evolution and rich history of the nation’s music.
The family will announce the burial arrangements in due course.
