Muluken
Melesse(ሙሉቀን መለሰ)
(born 1954) was an Ethiopian singer and drummer who later abandoned his music
career to involve himself in the Pentecostal Church.
Melesse
was born in Gojjiam, a province in Northern Ethiopia.
When he was six, he moved to Addis Ababa with his uncle. In 1966, aged 12, he
began his musical career singing at night clubs and in groups founded by night club owners, with his first song to be performed
on stage, Enate Sitewoldgne Metchi Amakerchign.
His
first song to be recorded on vinyl was Hedetch Alu, which was recorded
in 1972 by Girma Bèyènè (piano and arrangements), Tesfa Mariam Kidane (tenor
sax), Tekle Adhanonm (guitar), Fekade Amde Meskel (bass), Tesfay Mekonnen
(drums) and Melesse himself.
In 1975, he recorded his second song, Wetetie
Mare and Ete Endenesh Gedawo, with 'Equator Band', and a year later in 1976
he recorded what was to be his last song, Ney Ney Wodaje. While the
remained of the band emigrated to the United States of America, Melesse
remained to join the Pentecostal Church in the 1980s, having ended his musical
career.
Muluken
is married and resides in Washington DC metropolitan area. He ministers by
traveling all over the world.
