Kiki Gyan

Kiki Gyan (7 June 1957 – 6 June 2004), also known as Kiki Djan, was a Ghanaian musician. He was the keyboardist of the band Osibisa which was popular in the 1970s. He also recorded and produced a series of disco records. He was a prodigy who could play the keyboard exceptionally well.

Early life

Born into a middle-class family in Takoradi,<ref name=BBCNews /> Ghana, Gyan started playing the piano when he was five years old and went professional at the age of 12.<ref name=ModernGhana /> He dropped out of secondary school at 14 and after a tour of London with a local Ghanaian band called Pagadija;<ref name=BBCNews /> he joined the UK-based Afro-rock group Osibisa after his talent was recognized by the brother of the band's founder.<ref name="GhanaWeb" /> He was only 15 years old when he started playing with Osibisa in 1972, replacing the keyboardist who had just left, and he travelled internationally with the band during the 1970s, playing to large audiences around the world.<ref name=GhanaWeb>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Height of his career

By the age of 18, Gyan had made more than a million dollars, "had hung out with Elton John and Mick Jagger, played for Britain's Queen and cruised on champagne-drenched luxury ocean-liners to island-hop in the Caribbean".<ref name=BBCNews /> In 1977, he met Marvin Gaye, Peter Tosh, Stevie Wonder, and Third World during the FESTAC event in Nigeria.<ref name=GhanaWeb /> He left Osibisa to go solo in 1979 and recorded the single "24 Hours in a Disco", which hit the charts in the United States and the UK.

He was briefly married to Fela Kuti's first daughter, before divorcing to marry a Ghanaian woman. He has a daughter named Vanessa Gyan who now lives in Ghana with her son, Aaron.

Later life and death

Gyan became addicted to hard drugs for some 21 years, to the detriment of his career.<ref name="ModernGhana">"'Say No to Drugs' – Kiki Djan", Accra Mail, 2 September 2001. ModernGhana.com.</ref> Kiki Gyan died alone and impoverished in a church bathroom in Ghana, the cause of death being AIDS and drug-related complications.<ref name="BBCNews">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Discography

With Osibisa

• Osibirock (1974)
• Welcome Home (1975)
• Ojah Awake (1976)

Solo

• Afro Reggae (1977)
• Feeling So Good (1979)
• Feelin' Alright (1983)

With KG Brothers

• Pretty Pretty Girls (1979) (as The Twins)
• Disco Train (1979) (as KG Band)
• You (1982)

Compilations

• 24 Hours In A Disco 1978-82 (2012)

External links

• {{#if:Kiki Gyan|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs|{{#if:Template:Wikidata|Template:Wikidata Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at DiscogsTemplate:EditAtWikidata|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs}}}}