One of Highlife’s living legends, Nana Kwame Ampadu, took the Lifetime Achievement Award at the maiden 2011 Music of Ghanaian Origin (MOGO) Dinner and Awards Night on Saturday.

Nana Ampadu, whose contribution to authentic Ghanaian music over the decades can boast of hundreds of songs that continue to get highlife devotees, both young and old, on their feet at social gatherings.

One of Ampadu’s loved songs, ‘Obra’, recorded by the Ramblers Band, has for years been associated with one of Ghana Television’s oldest and well followed local shows, ‘Akan Drama’.

He was deeply touched and an elated Ampadu paid tribute to all those who had made an impact in his illustrious career. He singled out Jerry Hansen, Ebo Taylor and KK Kabobo for their unflinching support in his early days and advised up and coming musicians to understudy the experienced ones.

Ampadu was full of praises to organisers of the event, Citi FM, and predicted that the MOGO festival had come to stay.

Other award recipients were Faisal Helwani; Highlife Music

Development category; Jerry Hansen, Big Dance Band Music category; Nii Tei Ashitey; Traditional Music Development (Ga version) category; Zapp Mallet, Hiplife Music Development and Ebo Taylor for Arrangement and Composition category. The Ramblers International Band gave out their best as they backed highlife icons and legends such as CK Mann, Ben Brako and Nana Ampadu.