Patience Dabany: The Forgotten Chapter in Omar Bongo's Storied Personal Life

For two decades, she was known as Josephine Bongo, the revered First Lady of the Republic of Gabon. Then in 1986, she and President Omar Bongo divorced. Josephine moved to Los Angeles and reinvented herself as a musician under the name Patience Dabany, collaborating along the way with the likes of Quincy Jones and James Brown.

Here is the former First Lady and mother of Ali Bongo, Omar's heir apparent, singing "C'est pour la vie”, one of her most popular songs which is a throwback to the golden era of Zairo-Congolese music of Pongo Love, Mbilia Bell, Abeti Masikini and others.

 

For more on Patience Dabany see her Wikipedia page and this RFI interview.

Comments

[Linda]

Wow! I had never heard of Patience Dabany! I always assumed that Omar Bongo married Edith Nguesso after Josephine Bongo died! Thanks for another revelatory piece (at least to me).

BTW, this is a magical song and the solo guitar simply tugs at my heart strings. I makes me feel nostalgic and a little sad even though I haven't the fainstest clue what she is singing about. I have been playing it over and over and over....

[ATT]

I don't want to be crass but it seems as if this Bongo man specialized only in "big big" women. Check out this other video with the Late Edith Mbongo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od43e9okJx8

[Pedro Mwal]

Bongo had a third wife, Zainad Peeroo from the Island of Mauritius with whom he had 2 sons. That story is available here: http://www.lexpress.mu/Services/archive_82041_HISTOIRE-D-AMOUR

A storied personal life indeed...

[Father Sona]

Bongo liked big big women, because he was a little little man, but she makes the sweetest Beti music ever. God bless her.

[Ambe Johnson]

There are no "Beti" in Gabon, only in Cameroon. However, the Beti are part of a transnational ethnic group called the FANG who spread across Cameroun, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Josephine Bongo is a member of that group. check out this link for details.

http://www.africanethnicart.com/africanethnicgroup.aspx?ethnicgroup=FANG

[brandon i walson]

I have lived in Malabo and Libreville for over 3 years,and it was the music of Patience Dabany, Jocelyn Beroard [Kassav],Alex Ngoma in particular,and Soukous music in general that kept me going in those cities.It is high time Patience Dabany be awarded in Africa for her genre.Her music is fantastic.

[miss Gabon]

nope!nope!nope! patience dabany is not Fang...u have to get your facts right mr or mrs johnson..she is originally from the tribe called " Teke" or bateke,who are coming from Congo...her native dialect is very far from Fang, but as an artist she has the ability to learn most of the Gabonese dialectes to make sure that she can have a very diversified public...but i repeat she is not Fang at all..

[gideon]

am from ghana nd lately falling inlove wit dis woman,s music preaty awesome go mamma xxxx

[Colombe Adunagow]

Iam so in love with my africa,originally from congo ,I can't sleep without thinking of my continent,the people ,the culture,we are so rich.iam a fan of this wonderfull and talented woman,her music goes deep into my soul.I was looking for more info of her and thanks to all of you I got it now.Stay blessed.Viva africa!

[meyie]

She iz my idoliser,in as much as am not from gabon nd I don't get to understand the very terms of what shz saying, wat realli drives me nuts,itz every concept that makes up her music, starting from the vocals,dah instrumentals etc..,itz jst so freaking touching, thiz woman and a mother to me, deservez a honorable and a well distinquish gramme award from the international music act,cause she does deserve it.I ibarakumo walson junior say Akiba to patience_dabany for her distinctive_approach to music in africa..luv yu mama_afriKa.