Jimmy Akingbola brother Sola Akingbola is a musician. Sola Akingbola has been playing in front of sold-out arena crowds as the percussionist with chart-topping artists for over 20 years.

Jimmy, who goes by his full name James Olatokunbo Akingbola, is a Nigerian-British television, theater, and film actor. Originally belonging to a Nigerian family, he was fostered by a white British family, who raised him alongside their biological children.

The Hollywood actor, based in the US, has appeared in Ted Lasso, NCIS, and Bel-Air, a remake of the popular comedy “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

After working consistently in the entertainment industry for over two decades, his acting career has around 60 credits, and the list keeps getting longer.

Despite being a British actor, he has had great success in the United States. He has often demonstrated that he has the versatility to play a variety of roles, no matter how complex they may be.

During his early life, Jimmy frequently played in British theaters, including the title role in Othello and the Duke of Surrey in Henry VIII.

Jimmy Akingbola Brother

Jimmy Akingbola brother Sola Akingbola is a famous music artist in England. Sola Akingbola is a percussionist and band member of Jamiroquai.

Currently 57 years old, he is 13 years older than Jimmy. Sola was born on August 2, 1965, in Lagos, Nigeria. Along with drummer Derrick McKenzie, he is integral to the Jamiroquai sound and created the groove chemistry that has shaped the band’s previous five albums.

Sola, the lead singer of a group called “Critical Mass,” is working on finishing the second recording of his original songs. The artist’s work combines elements of his Nigerian and Yoruba backgrounds, his time spent in London, and his exposure to Afro-Beat and Latin Jazz.

A self-taught musician, Sola drew inspiration from London’s 80s underground rare groove culture of the 1980s; throughout his formative years, he danced, and DJ’d before honing his drumming skills with Nigerian percussionist Gasper Lawal from London.

Also, his other inspiration came from a talented group of artists like Haruna Isola, Fela Anikulapo, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Cat Stevens, and US funk-rock bands such as Earth, Wind, and Fire and Funkadelic, to name a few.

Furthermore, Fola Evans Akingbola, Sola’s daughter and Jimmy’s niece, is also a budding actress. She signed on to play her first lead in the American film “Dawn” in 2016.

Brother Segun

In addition to Sola, Jimmy had a sibling named Segun, whom he referred to as his twin in one of his Instagram posts. Segun’s Twitter account, which remains inactive, defines him as an actor, teacher, lover, parent, and dancer.

Around mid-year 2019, Jimmy shared a post mentioning that his sibling Segun had been diagnosed with one of the rarest and most severe cancers, “Renal Medullary Carcinoma.”

As per raredisease.org, “renal medullary carcinoma’ also known as RMC, is a rare cancer of the kidney that predominantly afflicts young people of African descent who carry the sickle cell trait, sickle cell disease, or other sickle hemoglobinopathies that can cause sickling of the red blood cells. The actor even shared a link to charity fundraising.

He was leaving behind his wife, Nicole Proia, and son, Ayo, who unfortunately passed away in 2020. Jimmy broke the heartbreaking news of his sibling Segun’s passing on Christmas Day in a heartfelt Twitter message in January 2020. Following that post, several people left comments expressing sympathy and showing support for the family.

Jimmy Akingbola Parents

Jimmy Akingbola was born in London to Nigerian parents and had a difficult childhood. His mother, Eunice, got separated from his father, and she got custody.

His family moved to the UK in 1967. Jimmy grew up in Plaistow, east London, for till he turned two.

As per inkpellet.co.uk, Akinbola’s birth parents split up when he was three. His father suspected his mother had schizophrenia and had been unfaithful to him. As per nimh.nih.gov, schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects how a person feels, behaves, and thinks.

Jimmy’s mother struggled to cope with her mental health and decided to raise her child as a single mother. However, with Jimmy’s illness, caring for him was difficult for her. Also, with no other family members to take care of her toddler son, she was forced to send him to foster care in 1979.

His Foster Parents are British

Jimmy was raised by his foster parents, Gloria and Dennis, spending the rest of his formative years with them in the London neighborhood of Plaistow.

The actor, who is very close to his foster family, the Crows, mainly his foster mother Gloria, describes them as “amazing,” as they introduced him to the arts and motivated him to choose an acting career.

Following the encouragement of his supportive family, he joined the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, where he learned three years of craft and later gained his degree in acting.

After that, Jimmy started portraying characters in plays at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. After learning to hone his craft, the actor became comfortable performing in front of a live audience.