Editing Obo Addy (section)

== Biography ==
Addy was born into the [[Ga (people)|Ga]] ethnic group in [[Accra]], the capital city of Ghana. He was one of the 55 children of Jacob Kpani Addy, a ''wonche'' or [[medicine man]] who integrated [[rhythm]]ic music into healing and other [[ritual]]s. Obo Addy's earliest musical influence was the traditional music of the Ga people, but he was also influenced as an adolescent by [[popular music]] from Europe and the United States, and performed in local bands that played Westernized music and the [[dance music|dance]] [[music of Ghana]] known as [[highlife]].<ref name="Baer">{{cite news|title=Obo Addy Loses Battle With Liver Cancer|url=http://www.opb.org/news/article/obo-addy-loses-battle-with-liver-cancer/ |last=Baer |first=April |publisher=[[Oregon Public Broadcasting]]|date=September 13, 2012 |access-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916210229/http://www.opb.org/news/article/obo-addy-loses-battle-with-liver-cancer/ |archive-date=September 16, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Kronos Quartet]] commissioned a string quartet from Addy for their 1992 album ''[[Pieces of Africa]]''.

Addy was employed by the Arts Council of Ghana in 1969, and played his native Ga traditional music in the [[1972 Summer Olympics]] in [[Munich]], Germany. He moved to [[London]], England, and began touring in Europe. In 1978, he moved to [[Portland, Oregon]] in the United States, where he taught at Lewis & Clark College.  He also led weekly drumming workshops at Portland's [[Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon)|Lincoln High School]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Obo Addy (1936-2012) |url=https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/addy_obo_1936_2012/ |last=Larson |first=Zeb |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Oregon Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref>

In 1989, he founded the [[Homowo]] African Arts and Cultures organization, a non-profit which sponsors the annual Homowo Festival of African Arts in Oregon.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wyden |first=Ron |date=2000 |title=Portland's Homowo Festival |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/loc.afc.afc-legacies.200002932/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=lcweb2.loc.gov}}</ref> The organization was later renamed as the Obo Addy Legacy Project.<ref name="Baer"/>

After a long battle with liver cancer, Addy died on September 13, 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last=Singer|first=Matthew|title=Obo Addy Has Passed Away|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-29179-obo_addy_has_passed_away.html|newspaper=[[Willamette Week]]|date=September 13, 2012|access-date=January 1, 2013}}</ref><ref name="obit">{{Cite web |title=In memoriam: Obo Addy |url=https://drummerszone.com/news/in-memoriam-obo-addy/artist-news-1-11038/article/ |access-date=July 22, 2023 |website=Drummerszone}}</ref>