From Tamale to Gospel Artiste of the Year: Piesie Esther’s long road

Success did not come overnight for Piesie Esther. She released her first album in 2002 and kept singing through years of modest recognition. More than twenty years later, she stood on stage as Ghana’s Gospel Artiste of the Year.

Early life and debut

Piesie Esther was born Esther Owusu on 3 June 1981 in Tamale, in the Northern Region of Ghana, to Grace Adu and Ransford Owusu. Although born in the north, her family comes from Nsuta-Atonsu in the Ashanti Region, where she spent much of her youth. She completed her junior high education at Atonsu S.D.A. JHS. Church music shaped her early years and her voice.

Her debut album, Apae Ama Me, was released in 2002, introducing her as a Twi gospel singer with a strong, emotional voice.

The albums

She followed with Me Nte Ase in 2008, which earned nominations at Ghana’s national music awards the next year, a sign that her work was reaching a wider audience. Her third album, Ziba Beko, appeared in 2011. She released Agye Won Nsem in 2016 and the worship album Osoreɛ Mu Tumi in 2017. Her song “Wayɛ Me Yie”, a song of thanksgiving for God’s goodness, became a major hit, sung in churches and played on radio across Ghana.

Recognition and perseverance

In 2023, she won Gospel Artiste of the Year and Best Gospel Song at the 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. In 2024, she was named Gospel Act of the Year at the 3Music Awards. Piesie Esther sings mainly in Twi, with lyrics rooted in Scripture and everyday experiences of faith. Her songs are often used in praise and worship sessions in churches across Ghana.

Her story encourages many musicians who have waited years for a breakthrough. She kept releasing music long before the awards came.

Twi worship

Singing in Twi connects Piesie Esther’s music to the everyday prayer language of many Ghanaian believers. Congregations can sing along without a lyric sheet, which helps her songs spread quickly from church to church. Beyond recording, she ministers at church programmes, conventions and gospel concerts across Ghana and among Ghanaians abroad, often leading long worship sessions.

It is fitting that her biggest hit is a song of thanksgiving. After two decades of steady ministry, Piesie Esther’s success felt, to many fans, like an answered prayer.