A tour of the United State of America in 1978 helped establish his international reputation. While in overseas he was honored with the title of a large crowd he was dressed in a full admiral uniform on the said day…

Prince Cyril Bamidele Abiodun Alele was born in Ijebu Ode Ogun State on 23rd March 1948 to a school head teacher who later became the head of Sobe a boundary town of Ondo and Edo State of Nigeria. Dele Abiodun one of Nigeria’s top juju musician had his elementary education in Ijebu Ode. He later attended Adeola Odutola College also in Ijebu Ode.. While in the fourth form Abiodun left the College. As a youth he was excited by the school of music established by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and with his school tuition fees, he left to work and study music in Ghana where he played bass guitar with several Highlife bands before returning to Lagos.

When Dele Abiodun left Young Pioneers School of Music, in Accra and having worked there too he came back to Nigeria in 1969 to form his first band Sweet Abbey and the Seven Brothers. He played a mixture of highlife, juju and rock. A year later he changed name to Dele Abiodun and his Top Hitters Band and introduced his own style known as Adawa (Independent Being) a fusion of juju and Afrobeat .

Having released three Singles and two Extended Playing records, Dele Abiodun shot to the main limelight in 1974 with his chart buster ‘Kini Mo Ko Soke Yi O’ on Olumo Records label. He made use of Hawaiian Steel Guitar and claims to have been the first to introduce the instrument to juju music. However he uses the Steel guitar often and prominent than other musicians.
Dele Abiodun is unique in his style, he developed his Adawa style and popularized it. The Adawa Super Series captivated Nigerian audience to the extent that he was acclaimed the Juju Prince. The arrangement of his record is credit to him; a lot of people believe that he is one of the best arrangers in Nigeria. He arranges his record well. His sonorous voice is an asset to him too. The voice is unique in its form and cannot easily be copied.

A tour of the United State of America in 1978 helped establish his international reputation. While in overseas he was honored with the title of a large crowd he was dressed in a full admiral uniform on the said day…

Excerpt from HISTORY OF JUJU MUSIC IN NIGERIA by PAUL WALE ADEMOWO