On 16 January 1971, a car carrying one of Nigeria’s biggest musicians crashed on the road between Asaba and Benin. Rex Lawson, on his way to a show in Warri, was killed. He was 32.
Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson was born on 4 March 1938 in Buguma, in present-day Rivers State. A singer, trumpeter and bandleader, he became one of the best-known highlife musicians in Nigeria in the 1960s.
The Cardinal
Lawson’s nickname, “Cardinal”, added to his stage presence. He led his band through Nigeria’s clubs and hotels at a time when highlife dominated dance floors.
He was from the Kalabari, an Ijaw people of the Niger Delta, and his music drew on the rhythms and language of the region as well as the highlife that had come from Ghana.
Sawale
His song “Sawale” won fans across the country in the 1960s and remains his best-known work. It has been remixed and covered many times, and it is still played at parties, especially in the south of Nigeria.
Lawson sang in several Nigerian languages as well as English, which helped him reach listeners across ethnic lines.
The war years
The Nigerian civil war, from 1967 to 1970, disrupted life and music across the country, especially in the east and the Niger Delta. Musicians had to move, bands broke up and venues closed. Lawson continued to perform where he could.
The crash
Lawson died in a car accident at the Urhamigbe corner on the Asaba to Benin road while travelling to Warri for a performance. His death, so soon after the end of the war, shocked his fans.
The legacy
More than fifty years later, Rex Lawson is still remembered as one of the great voices of Nigerian highlife. Anniversaries of his death are marked in the Nigerian press, and his records remain in circulation.
Musicians from the Niger Delta often name him as an influence, and highlife bands still include his songs in their sets.
A Delta voice
Buguma sits among the creeks and waterways of the Niger Delta, and Lawson carried its music with him. Fans from Rivers State still claim him proudly as one of their own.
Listening now
Start with “Sawale”, then look for his other recordings from the 1960s. The horns, the easy rhythm and the warmth of his voice explain why his fans still talk about him.
Lawson recorded for barely a decade before the crash. Few musicians have been remembered so long for so short a career.
