From Boy Simon To Dawn Simon

A Former Child Star Is Set To Regain Stardom

As a little boy Anthony Simon was a star. For those who could remember, there used to be Boy Simon who gained prominence during the Majek Fashek era. Boy Simon was a child star signed to EMI records, one of the biggest record labels in Nigeria in those good old days.

But today Anthony is a grown up man and he has changed his name to Dawn Simon, name might be changed but his love for music has remained the same. The dreadlocks styled Dawn Simon is trying to give the spot light a shot for the second time.

If Boy Simon could be part of the headliners of MAMSER Tour, a concert initiated by Ibrahim Babangida’s regime in 1987 to cultivate support for the transitional program of the Government, as an artist with such exposure at an early stage, Dawn Simon is poised to sing his way back to the hearts of today’s audience with a strategy “I want the whole of Nigerian people to expect something far better than what I used to bring out before because right now I am coming back and better. A lot of my songs are mostly for the ladies.’’

Dawn Simon still has fond memories of the rainmaker, “Majek Fashek was a nice cool looking guy with beautiful dreadlocks dropping down his shoulders, he usually comes up on stage with a bell he will be ringing it and says repent the kingdom of God is at hand. Then he was the prisoner of conscience. He is a role model to me the way he performed on stage as well as the Mandators, Victor Essiet. So I took to their style of dancing on stage the dreadlock style.’’

Dawn Simon also reflected on his past as a child star, “As at then I shared the same stage with Yvonne Chaka Chaka of South Africa, Third world of Jamaica, Jambos Express, Sir Shina Peters, Majek Fashek, Mandators, late Christy Essien Igbokwe and a host of them. My life was that of a child celebrity. Whenever I go out maybe to do a shopping, I got kids of my age and other older people coming up to me for an autograph. I think it was really cool.”

Anthony Dawn Simon hails from Benin in Edo State, he currently resides in J Town, and he describes his music as a fusion of everything, the Afro dance hall, the hip hop, the Afro beat and reggae. His first album was released by EMI records.