Popular kid gospel artiste Elisabeth Ayomide Babalola, better known by her stage name, Lizzy, turned 12 on Wednesday, June 3, 2015, marking the occasion with a visit to a home for children without parental care.
Rather than limiting her birthday celebration to family and friends, Lizzy chose to spend part of the day with children she considered less privileged. She presented gifts to the children and spent time with them as part of her effort to give back to society.
Born into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Ayomide-Babalola, Lizzy began showing an interest in music at an early age. Her parents encouraged the talent, and she started singing when she was five.
At the age of six, she released an educational video CD titled Lizzy’s Nursery Rhymes. The project, released in 2010, combined music and educational content and was targeted at children and families.
As her interest in music developed, Lizzy expanded her activities into gospel music, particularly praise and worship. At the age of eight, she reportedly returned to the studio to record another project, Victory Dance, which was released on November 11, 2012. A video from the project was subsequently released in February 2014.
One of the notable features of Lizzy’s performances was her involvement with a band known as the Galactic Praise Team. The group comprised backup singers and instrumentalists, many of whom were adults and professional musicians.
Lizzy was also described as an instrumentalist and was reported to have performed at numerous concerts, churches and other events in Nigeria and abroad.
Among the events at which she appeared was the Osun Education Summit in 2011, held at Osun State University. She reportedly presented a paper and performed some of her educational rhymes at the international programme, which had Professor Wole Soyinka as chairman.
The then Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and members of his cabinet were also reported to have attended.
Her musical activities extended to radio, where she reportedly produced promotional jingles for stations including BCOS, Ajilete 92.1 FM in Ogbomosho, Unique FM 103.1 in Ilesa and OSBC FM 104.5 in Osogbo.
Lizzy had also shared the stage with a number of gospel artistes, including Esther Igbekele, Bukola Sewenle Jesu, the Adegbodu Twins and Mega 99. She was also reported to have performed alongside established Nigerian artistes such as Yinka Ayefele and Evangelist Bola Are.
In December 2012, Lizzy performed at the Ovation Red Carols at Eko Hotels, Lagos, following an invitation from Chief Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation International.
She also appeared as a guest artiste at the City People Entertainment Awards in Ibadan, where her performance attracted attention from guests at the event.
On January 12, 2014, she was reportedly a guest performer at a thanksgiving concert hosted by former Ogun State Governor Otunba Gbenga Daniel at Abraham Tabernacle, Sagamu, Ogun State.
Her performance schedule also included the 50th birthday celebration of Seye Kehinde, publisher of City People Magazine, in Lagos in May 2015.
Lizzy had also taken her music beyond Nigeria. Between August 6 and August 28, 2014, she embarked on a musical tour of London, with performances in London and Manchester. She reportedly returned to the United Kingdom later that year, from September 25 to 28, for another series of ministrations.
Despite her growing involvement in music, education remained an important part of Lizzy’s life. At the time of her 12th birthday, she was a JSS 2 student.
Her musical engagements were reportedly arranged mainly around weekends and school holidays, allowing her to combine her education with her passion for gospel music.
At 12, Lizzy’s journey had already taken her from children’s educational music to gospel performances, recording projects, radio jingles and appearances at major social and religious events, making her one of the young performers attracting attention within Nigeria’s gospel music scene at the time.
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