Ayo

Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin (born 14 September 1980; Frechen, near Cologne, West Germany), known professionally as Ayọ, a Yoruba translation of her given name Joy, is a Nigerian-German singer-songwriter and actress.

Early Life

Ayọ was born the youngest of four children to a Nigerian father, a mechanical engineer from Ondo State, and a mother of Romani descent from Romania. When she was around five or six years old, her mother developed a heroin addiction and spent time in jail; her parents subsequently divorced, and Ayọ and her siblings spent extended periods in foster care and children's homes.

She spent four years at a children's home in Schwalmtal-Waldniel, where she learned violin and piano and, in 1992, joined the home's music band, La Taste. At fourteen, she was considered old enough to return to live with her father, and she went on to teach herself guitar, writing her first song at fifteen.
 

Career

After her father discovered her vocal talent, he recorded a demo tape to send to record labels and venues. Following a brief period living in London, Ayọ moved to Paris, France, where she began performing solo shows, including opening slots for Omar and Cody ChesnuTT, and soon signed with Polydor Records.

Her debut album, Joyful, recorded live in the studio over five days, was released in 2006 and became a major success, achieving double-platinum certification in France and Poland, platinum status in Germany, and gold certification in Switzerland, Italy and Greece, topping the Polish album chart and reaching the top ten in France and Italy on the strength of singles including "Down on My Knees," "And It's Supposed to Be Love" and "Life Is Real."

She followed it with an extensive European and American tour. Her second album, Gravity at Last, released through Universal Music France in 2008 and again recorded in just five days, featured musicians including Larry Campbell, Lucky Peterson and Sherrod Barnes, and topped the French album chart that October; the album earned her the European Border Breakers Award in 2008, and she supported it with a promotional tour of around thirty concerts across five European countries.

Her third album, Billie-Eve, followed in 2011, the same year she signed with MBM Records in the United States, followed by Ticket to the World (2013) on Motown France, produced by Jay Newland, her self-titled fifth album (2017), recorded in her Brooklyn apartment and featuring the singles "I'm a Fool" and "Paname," and Royal (2020), produced by Freddy Koella and led by the singles "Beautiful" and "Rest Assured."

Alongside music, Ayọ has built a career in acting, starring as LaBlanche in the German science fiction drama VOLT (2016), a role that earned her a nomination for the German Cinema New Talent Award for Actor at the 2016 Filmfest München, and appearing in Raoul Peck's Murder in Pacot, a drama exploring the aftermath of Haiti's 2010 earthquake.

In 2009, French production company MK2 released Ayo Joy, a 90-minute documentary directed by Raphaël Duroy chronicling her life and career.

Personal Life

Ayọ was in a long-term relationship with German-born reggae artist Patrice, with whom she has two children, a son, Nile Nesta Abiola, born in late 2005, and a daughter, Billie-Eve, born in July 2010; the couple have since separated. She welcomed a third child, Jimi-Julius, in March 2017.

Ayọ's candid songwriting, often drawing on the hardship of her early life, alongside her fusion of folk, soul, reggae and afrobeat influences, has established her as one of Europe's most distinctive crossover soul artists.