Charly Boy
| Charly Boy | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa |
| Born |
19 June 1951 Port Harcourt, Nigeria |
| Genres | Pop, Afrobeat, highlife |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, journalist, producer, Idol series judge |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Associated acts | Dr. Alban, Diane 'Lady Di' Oputa, Duchess Maria |
Charly Boy, born Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, 19 June 1951 (also spelt Charlie Boy and known as CB, His Royal Punkness, and Area Fada), is a Nigerian singer/songwriter, television presenter, publisher, producer and one of Nigeria's most controversial entertainers, best known for his alternative lifestyle, political views, and media productions, most notably The Charly Boy Show. He has been president of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, and in 2011 an Idol Series judge.
The second son of former Supreme Court judge Chukwudifu Oputa, Oguta-native Charly Boy was born into a Catholic household, and is the cousin of Swedish musician Dr. Alban. As he often refused to reveal his date of birth in interviews, his age remained unknown until 2011 when he celebrated his sixtieth birthday, however, in his usual enigmatic character, he announced his 63rd birthday on 19 June 2013, making his age a contentious one. Although he has described his parents as friends who always encouraged their children to speak and say what they had in mind, Charly Boy has also spoken about their conservative nature. He had set out to become a priest, but left seminary school after a year. In his late teens he moved to America where he was expected to study Law as his father had done, but graduated with a degree in Communications.
Although Charly Boy had released a highlife album in 1982 (he was nearly denied a record deal due to his unconventional appearance until he was introduced to managing director Ton Seysener, with whom he would later on closely work together in realizing the musical beach extravaganza Lekki Sunspalsh.) He attained greater success with the 1985 Polygram Nigeria release of Nwata Miss, which included the title track. His most popular album was 1990 – the title was a reference to Nigeria's corrupt military government which was expected to hand over power to civilians in that year, although civilian rule did not start until 1999).1990 earned Charly Boy mixed reviews due to its political nature and caused national controversy, and a number of radio stations refused to play the title track. Despite this, 1990 was one of Nigeria's best-selling albums of 1988, and Charly Boy was credited with using his music to stand up to his government, a lá Fela Kuti.
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