BACKGROUND Timi Dakolo was born in Accra, Ghana to a Nigerian father, David Dakolo and a Ghanaian mother, Norah Dakolo (nee Danso). His father is from Bayelsa State. His mother died when he was thirteen years old. When Dakolo was three months old, his parents took him to live with his grandmother, Ateni Dakolo in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. When he was three years old, they came to take him to live with them in their new home in Lagos, Timi refused to follow them. They left him with his grandmother, who raised him. His grandmother taught him how to sing. Timi has two younger siblings. Timi Dakolo started singing in church at the age of 12. In 2003 he joined the singing group Purple Love as a founding member. Purple Love dominated the Port Harcourt music scene, singing in clubs, shows, and the concert circuit. Purple Love disbanded in 2005 because Timi (and other members of the group) enrolled for a degree programme in the University of Port Harcourt. * Timi Dakolo’s favourite songs are Caroline by Lemar and To Love Somebody by Michael Bolton. * His favourite colour is blue. * Timi Dakolo was shot at the lobby of the Presidential Hotel in Port Harcourt on New Years Day, January 1, 2008. He had gone to the hotel to attend a church service in the company of his friends. The attack was a random act of violence by a faction of Niger Delta militants and was not targeted at Timi. A hotel security guard was murdered in the attack. Timi, who escaped with a flesh wound, was rushed to the hospital, treated and discharged on the same day. * Though he was born in Ghana and his mother was from Ghana, Timi Dakolo does not claim dual citizenship. He holds a Nigerian passport.