Legendary Nigerian Afrobeats music superstar Dapo Oyebanjo, better known as D’banj, recounts the moment American singer Kelly Rowland fainted on stage because of the energy he displayed on stage before she comes on stage.
The Koko Master himself D’banj was a guest at the sent-off party of Nigerian entertainment industry giants, Alex Okosi, as he bowed out as the VP and Managing Director of Viacom International Media Networks VIMN Africa.
During one of the panel sessions hosted by Toolz, D’banj was asked how it felt to perform on the same stage as Kelly Rowland at the MTV Africa Music Awards in 2008. D’banj in answering the question remembered an incident a year earlier before the MAMAs where he had performed just before Kelly Rowland at the ThisDay music festival stage in 2007.
Midway into her performance on the ThisDay stage, Kelly collapses and has to be carried off stage. ‘About a year ago or so before, at the ThisDay music festival, Kelly Rowland was on the show and she performed right after me. And when I finished, the story I heard was that while I was on the stage, the energy was too much that the (Kelly’s backup) dancers came, watched and went back to tell her that “wow, the guy that is on stage is a beast”. So she extra prepared and got on the ThisDay stage and she fainted.’ D’banj shared laughing.
However, the report of the 2007 incident reported that Kelly Rowland, passed out due to dehydrated and had not eaten before the show. D’banj eventually got to share a stage with Kelly Rowland at the first-ever MTV Africa Music Awards in 2008 where they performed Like This, the remix together.