by Rachel Ogbu//

British-Nigerian singer, Patti Boulaye (OBE), 63, began this year talking about her new book The Faith Of A Child, an autobiography chronicling her life through wealth, poverty, civil war to show business Stardom. An inspiration for all those with faith. “I suppose I had what people would call a traumatic childhood, but it was a childhood steeped in love as well,” Patti told The Voice’s Life and Style section. “The surroundings and the situations were traumatic, but the family were close. When I was two, my parents had a terrible divorce and then we were thrown into political upheaval because my mum got married to a politician as we were fighting for our independence in Nigeria.”

Born Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe, Patti describes her childhood as filled with obstacles including witnessing distressing events (during the Biafran war) and needing medical attention on several occasions. However, her resilient spirit that came from her faith in God saw her through those hard times. Also, she went from extreme poverty, where she “had just rags for clothes” to wealth after her mother remarried a politician some years later.

She later described the miracle of stumbling into stardom in the UK. “I came to the UK when I was 16 and accidentally got into showbusiness. I’d come to visit my sister and one day I decided to visit Madame Tussauds,” she tells The Telegraph. “Somehow, instead of being in the queue for the exhibition, I ended up in the queue for singers auditioning for a part in the musical Hair!. I had no idea I was in the wrong queue and ended up auditioning as I had spent so long waiting to do anything. To my total surprise, I was offered a part…”

Last year, she featured in BBC2’s The Real Marigold Hotel and has become known for her charity work in Africa and the UK (for which she was awarded the OBE in 2016), for leading 5,000 gospel singers down the Mall during the Queen’s 2002 Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Some of her hits include, You Stepped into My Life (1978), The Music Machine (1979), Magic (1981), Patti (1983), In His Kingdom (2004).

“This year, I’m determined to work with mental health initiatives where I can. I set up my own charity, Support for Africa, many years ago, which funded the building of five healthcare clinics and a school in Africa. I have always wanted to give something back. Life is very busy as I also run my own etiquette business and have exhibited my own paintings, too. I feel blessed to still be able to sing and perform, and to do so many things I enjoy,” she tells The Mirror.

Rachel Ogbu

UK Based Strategic, multidisciplinary Writer with an eye for innovation and pixel perfection. MA in New Media and Internet Technologies. “Although my skill set is vast, my greatest expertise revolve in the worlds of social media, content creation and print collateral. My wish is to combine my knowledge and experience in these areas, to deliver the best creative to my employer’s clients and their audiences.”