Joe Ankrah was a key figure in both the Liverpool music scene and the L8 community
18:00, 05 Apr 2026Updated 18:11, 05 Apr 2026
Joe Ankrah at The Jacaranda. Founding member of The Chants for whom the Beatles acted as backing band, and mentor to many L8 musicians. (Image: Ean Flanders, 2025)
A “groundbreaking legend” from Liverpool’s music scene has died at the age of 83. Joe Ankrah gained fame as a member of The Chants, performing alongside The Beatles and forming a friendship with John Lennon.
The band, which consisted of Joe, his brother Eddie Ankrah, and three others, performed in the Cavern Club with the backing of The Beatles in 1962. Joe, a prominent figure in both the Toxteth community and Liverpool music scene, started out pursuing a career in boxing, according to Smithdown Social Arts Hub.
According to the arts hub, Joe was a promising boxer but could not pursue his dreams due to being diagnosed with a heart condition. He worked as a crew member on a boat which travelled to Africa and Asia before returning to the UK. He later worked in Sutton Manor coal mine before forming The Chants.
After forming the harmony group, he watched The Beatles perform in New Brighton before meeting John Lennon. John invited Joe to play at the Cavern Club the following week, and they became friends there.
Joe and The Chants shared a stage with The Beatles several times throughout the 1960s before being signed by Brian Epstein and having a career that saw him and his band travel across Europe.
(Image: not TM owned)
Later in his life, Joe formed other bands such as Ofanchi and Pyramid and is said to have been a key figure in the Toxteth community.
Paying tribute to Joe, The Christians, of which Joe’s son, Joey Ankrah Jr, is the lead guitarist, said: “Imagine making such a large footprint on life that you can look back and say ‘My band The Chants were managed by Brian Epstein, and The Beatles opened for us at The Cavern’.
“Imagine having the most beautiful, talented children (all wonderful but just off the cuff, one, Joey, has the voice of an angel is a prolific songwriter and producer and an integral part of our band, The Christians.
“His son Daniel wrote and performed one of the best club anthems ever, ‘Sunshine’, and his daughter Holly is sought after to perform with Liam Gallagher and Dave Stewart).
“That’s Joe Ankrah… father, artist, famous musician. Wow, what a groundbreaking legend he was.
“We are so sad for our wonderful Joey Ankrah but what a fine, devoted, respectful son he had in you much love to all the Ankrah family. A huge, huge loss RIP Joey Ankrah Senior.”
In a tribute shared with the ECHO, lead singer of The Christians, Garry Christian, said: “Singing alongside Joe Ankrah’s oldest son, Joey Ankrah, in The Christians over the last 20+ years meant I was lucky enough to be around Joe Ankrah Sr regularly.
“Although always cool and understated, he had that certain ‘superstar presence’ befitting for a man managed by Brian Epstein, who mingled with The Beatles and Little Richard in his day.
“As well as his musical talents, Joe was a phenomenal (brushstroke) artist; he had an exhibition recently in Smithdown Arts Social Centre, [they were] incredible paintings of family, The Beatles, and wildlife; every one of them was stunning.
He has left a huge musical legacy, not least in his children Joey, Daniel and Holly Quinn, who are all successful singers and writers and have really made their mark in today’s increasingly untenable and ridiculous music industry.
“Joe comes from an era of men who’d known the true story of what racism meant but who had always walked tall in every room. Rest now, Joe; you left a very big impression.”
Music photographer Billy Vitch wrote on Facebook: “Sad to hear of the passing of the influential Toxteth-born singer Joey Ankrah (The Chants, Ofanchi) yesterday.
“The Chants were a vocal harmony group from Liverpool 8. The band, which got together in the early 1960s, consisted of brothers Joe and Eddie Ankrah; Nat Smeda; Alan Harding; and Eddie Amoo, later of The Real Thing.
“Joe Ankrah and The Chants were very influential and influenced and worked with the Beatles; they also supported [Ramon] Sugar Deen, Derry Wilkie and Little Richard in the 1960s.
“Rest in peace, Joey, a true Liverpool and music legend.”