Goldie – A legacy of unfulfilled dreams

When Goldie wished her late friend, popular socialite, Susan Yussuf aka Susan Q, a posthumous birthday on Twitter early in the month, little did she know that 10 days later, the tables will turn and a stream of condolence messages will be directed at her.

At a tender age of 31,  Adebimpe Susan ‘Goldie’ Filani Harvey, succumbed to the cold hands of death on Valentine Day, moments after returning from the U.S., where she had gone to attend the Grammies.

The news, which filtered in the wee hours of Thursday, took everyone by surprise, little wonder that some thought it was a mere publicity stunt for her planned reality show titled Tru Friendship, with her best friend, Derenle Edun. But yet again, that would have been one joke, too many.

For celebrities like rapper, Eva and Nollywood actresses, Kate Henshaw and Katerine Obiang, it was simply unbelievable. Then, Eva tweeted saying, “The Goldie I know, the Goldie I Love, is ALIVE. I don’t know the Goldie you people are talking about. That is all.”

But the ‘supposed’ rumour began to hold some credence after popular blogger, Linda Ikeji, confirmed the news on her site saying, “Just confirmed from her best friend and my close friend, Denrele Edun. He told me Goldie died this night at Reddington Hospital in Victoria Island. Goldie just came back from the US today he said, and was so full of life, and then something went tragically wrong.”

This was followed by a similar Tweet on Goldie’s Facebook and Twitter page which read, “It is with heavy heart that I have to inform you all that Goldie passed this night shortly after arriving Lagos from LA. May her soul rest in the eternal peace of the Lord – Admin!!” her management announced on her Facebook page on Thursday night.

Although her record label, Kennis Music, has since put out an official statement which states that the 31-year-old musician initially complained of a severe headache shortly after her arrival from the United States and was rushed from her Park View, Ikoyi, Lagos residence to her official hospital, Reddington, Victoria Island, Lagos, where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival at exactly 7:30 p.m. in the evening, the actual cause of her death remains unclear, as at press time.

However several sources say the flamboyant singer, who died in the arms of her best friend, Denrele Edun, from complications resulting from Deep vein Thrombosis (DVT)-(The severe headache she complained of is one of the life threatening symptoms of DVT), some others say she might have died of Pneumonia- an inflammatory condition of the lung—affecting primarily the microscopic air sacs known as alveoli.

Goldie the artiste

Born Susan Oluwabimpe Harvey, her late mum, Olabisi Betty, was a former managing director of the defunct National Bank, while her dad, also retired as a Managing Director in Access Bank.

As the first child in a family of four, she took very active roles in all church activities – drama, choir, bible classes.

Her music career remotely kicked off at the University of Sunderland where she was admitted to study Business Management. Upon her return to Nigeria in the mid-2000s, she met Cool FM OAP, Mannie, during the course of trying to build her date-reminder services business. In turn, Mannie introduced her to industry players. Then, she met renowned producer, OJB Jezreel who would produce her first single, Komole. This was followed by three other singles Spin Me, Nothing has Changed, and Shift, which all formed part of her compilation CD.

The video for Say My Name received Best Pop Costume at the Nigerian Music Video Awards (NMVA) in December 2012. She was also honoured with a Special Recognition Award at Top Naija music awards same month.

Goldie was signed on to Kennis Music in 2010. A few months later, she released her acclaimed debut titled, Gold. Her hit songs include You Know It, ‘Jawo Jawo and DTMB (Don’t Touch My Body).  During her lifetime, she received a total of 10 awards, including Exquisite Lady of the year, Best Female Artiste award and City People Best Female Artiste of the year.

She has also been inducted as a Federal Celebrity Special Marshal, alongside other notable Nigerian Celebrities. The Law Students Society of the Obafemi Awolowo University recently issued her an Award for Musical Excellence under the category of Best Female Artiste of the Year.

She has also been conferred a United Nations Youth Ambassador for Peace by the Federal Government.  Goldie became the final celebrity to exit the BBA7 star game house in 2012 as the 3rd runner up.

Up until the cruel hands of death snatched her away, Goldie was working on a Continental-wide musical project titled The Africa Invasion Album. The first 3 hits off the Naughty Singles compilation: Skibobo, featuring AY (Tanzania), Miliki featuring Navio (Uganda), and Give It To Me featuring J MARTINS (Nigeria), have all recorded massive downloads worldwide.

She was also working towards tying the knot with her Big Brother love interest, Prezzo, late in the year.