CharlyBoy’s forthcoming memoir, “999,” has been displayed on digital billboards at New York’s Times Square, ahead of its public presentation in Lagos.
The book, which carries a foreword by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, will be formally unveiled on July 31 at the Mike Adenuga Centre in Ikoyi, Lagos State. The entertainer shared video and photos of the Times Square display on his social media pages, marking the memoir’s international preview.
Times Square, formed at the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, is among the world’s busiest pedestrian intersections and tourist destinations, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually and roughly 330,000 people passing through daily. Its billboards, some of the most expensive advertising space in the world, span more than 300,000 square feet of LED display capable of 3D visuals, interactive games and synchronised midnight art shows.
CharlyBoy, popularly known as “Areafada,” has spent recent weeks teasing extracts from the book across social media, describing himself as someone who dared to be different when it wasn’t safe and refused to be defined by convention. Now in his seventies, he has said the memoir touches on personal battles, estrangement from his parents, four marriages before the age of 36, and encounters with both danger and the spiritual world. “This book is not a biography. It’s a battleground. The Ugly, the Bad and the very Good. It’s a collection of live experiences that would make even the boldest screenwriters cringe. For over 40 years, I used the CharlyBoy brand to challenge Nigeria’s hypocrisy. To provoke, awaken, and give voice to the silenced. Was I controversial? Yes. Rebellious? Certainly. But also relentlessly real,” he wrote in one post.
Born Charles Oputa on June 19, 1950, CharlyBoy is the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. He built his career as a singer-songwriter, television presenter, actor and producer, becoming known as much for his alternative lifestyle and outspoken political views as for his entertainment work. He hosted the popular “The Charly Boy Show,” served as a judge on Nigeria Idol in 2011, and previously led the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria as its president. He has been married to African-American singer and former fashion designer Diane for over four decades and has children both from that marriage and from previous relationships.
