[3] Roy Chicago became increasingly successful with hits such as ''"Iyawo Pankeke"'', ''"Are owo niesa Yoyo gbe"'' and ''"Keregbe emu" In the 1960s, Victor Olaiya's International All Stars and Roy Chicago's Abalabi Rhythm Dandies were two of the leading highlife bands in Nigeria, both led by graduates of the Bobby Benson Orchestra.
[6] At a low point in Chicago's career in the 1970s, Bobby Benson helped again by providing musical equipment and giving him a place to stay in Surulere.
Playing with Bobby Benson in the 1950s, he performed ball room dance and highlife, fox trot, tango, waltz, quick step, jive and Latin American music.
Lawson apprenticed with Bobby Benson, Victor Olaiya, and Roy Chicago before striking out on his own with a unique blend of Igbo lyrics sung over Kalabari rhythms.
The band was versatile and could play almost all types of music, but ... highlife [was] its specialty, which relied more on Nigerian melodies with rhythms rooted in indigenous elements.
"[12][13] Peter King, one of Nigeria's greatest tenor sax players, started with Roy Chicago's band in Lagos before going to England to study music.