13th June, 2014
Funsho Arogundade
Female gospel music star, Kefee Don Momoh, who was under intensive care in the United States for over a week, is dead.
Reports said the multiple award winning singer passed on at Desert Spring Hospital in Las Vegas, US, after she failed to recover from a coma.
This is coming days after doctor’s report that Kefee will need a miracle to survive, having been diagnosed of Eclampsia, a condition in which one or more convulsions occur in a pregnant woman suffering from high blood pressure, often followed by coma and posing a threat to the health of mother and baby.
Kefee, who was in the trimester of her pregnancy, had collapsed and slipped into coma after a 14-hour flight to Chicago for an event that forced the plane to land in Los Angeles so that she could be urgently attended to.
Her husband, Teddy Esosa Don Momoh, had called on Nigerians to join him in prayer for her ailing wife.
Honoured with the prestigious UN award as Young Ambassador for Peace, Kefee was greatly armed with a warm spirit.
She was a prolific song writer, a skilled dancer and a passionate singer.
Born to Deacon and Mrs. Andrew Obareki in Sapele, Delta State, southern Nigeria, she started singing at the age of 8 in the children choir, and later moved on to the adult choir when she was 15. And at age 18 she was made the choir director.
Kefee, the Branama Queen, studied Public Administration at the University of Benin, Edo State.
In 2000, she composed and released an album titled “TRIP” with a friend and in December 2003 she signed on with Alec Music and released her first solo album as a female artiste.
Kefee’s Branama sold nine thousand audio cassettes in just three weeks after the album was released and over two million copies of CDs/VCDs in a month.
She became the hottest Nigerian female artiste and won a number of awards.
As Kefee’s fan base increased all over Africa and also on the international scene, she was invited to perform in London and other parts of Europe and America.
Kefee’s first album was a huge success which had her fans eagerly anticipating her second album entitled Branama 2.
Her sophomore album was just as terrific as her first and also got her the respect of other well known Nigerian artistes who worked with her on the album.
She was the founder and CEO of BRANAMA AFRIQUE, an entertainment outfit known for excellent production.
In 2012, after a turbulent relationship with Alec Godwin, Kefee remarried her boyfriend, Teddy, and by 2013 they both temporarily relocated to the US.
While in the US, Kefee and Teddy attended Chicago Access Network TV where they recently graduated after they both studied video production and directing.