Pat Thomas

Born Kwabena Nyamekye Amoo-Mensah in Agona, Ghana on August 14, 1946, the highlife/afrobeat singer and songwriter is better known by his stage name Pat Thomas. Born into a musical family, his uncle was guitarist King Onyina, who was best known for his work with Nat King Cole. As a teen, he studied guitar and drums while also composing his own material. In 1971, he joined Ebo Taylor’s highlife band the Blue Monks. After two years with Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas left the band in 1973 and moved to the Ivory Coast. He formed his own band Sweet Beans and recorded his debut album, False Lover (1974). This was followed by the 1976 albums Stage Two, Stay There, and Pat Thomas Introduces Marijata. In 1978, he was honored with the Mr. Golden Voice of Africa award. He continued to record several albums in Ghana before leaving the country in 1982 and moving to London, England. Collaborating with his old boss, Ebo Taylor, the duo recorded a trio of well-received albums in the early 1980s alongside his own solo releases. He spent five years touring Europe before relocating to Canada in 1990. Although his 1991 album Sika Ye Mogya won the Album of the Year Award in Ghana, he put his recording career on hold and focused on teaching for the remainder of the 1990s. In 2000, Pat Thomas oved back to Ghana, where he continued to teach and resumed his recording and touring career.