Why My Father Married 27 Women In A Day – Seun Kuti

Grammy-nominated Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, has explained why his late father cum pioneer of the Afrobeats genre, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, married 27 women in one day.

Osun Defender recalls that Fela married 27 women in one day in 1978.

While speaking on the matter during an interview on the ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ podcast via Skype, Seun, said his late father was always involved in media propaganda.

He explained that the media was already tagging Fela’s female dancers and band members living with him as prostitutes.

He further explained that his father married the 27 women in one day in a bid to preserve their honour and dignity.

According to him, “My father was under immense media propaganda. He was very scrutinised. And most of it were directed to the women that were in his life; his female back-up singers, dancers. They all lived together with my dad but the media started calling them prostitutes.

“So my dad, in order to preserve their honour and dignity, asked them if they would choose to be his brides so nobody would call them names anymore and they all agreed. That was how the marriage happened.”