Celebrating Legendary Singer, Stella Monye's Inspiring Life At 59

Her story is an inspiration. Stella Monye was born in Ibadan, Oyo State  at the popular Adeoyo Hospital on April 28, 1963 to Mr. and Mrs. Christian Onyekama Monye. She was the 4th of their 8 children. She started her musical career at age 14  She hit fame with her monumental hit album, “Mr. Right” (1983) which included the hit single “Okok Mi Yee”. She went on to dominate the national scene and later reinvented herself, staying faithful to her craft. She was widely acclaimed as the Samba Queen. 

Oko Mi Yee (Audio) by Stella Monye.

Things however took a dramatic turn for her, leading to several years of being shut out of the world following the protracted ill health of her son, Ibrahim. For more than 18 years, she was at the bedside of her ailing son, who had an accident at age 11, which pierced his scrotum. That ugly incident has not only affected the Samba Queen psychologically, but also had a huge impact on her career and music. At a point she had to come public to raise funds to foot the medical bills.

But the good news is that Monye’s son is doing well now after he had gone through corrective surgeries in New York, in 2018. His urethra was badly damaged as a result the accident which led to other complications including kidney and liver diseases.

Right now, the queen of music, who was a darling of many back then, is back on track with her life and is now full of joy. She confirmed this in an interview with Channels TV about 2 years ago. Today, her oldtime colleagues have been sending her good wishes to mark her 59th birthday. 

Stella Monye had six albums to her credit in over 24 active years in the music business and surely ranks among the top female musicians to ever come out of Nigeria.