Born in 1975 in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Gosaye Tesfaye grew up a locality known as Merkato, labeled as the largest open market in Africa. The singer started his elementary education at Yekatit 23 Elementary School, after which he completed secondary school and high school at Kolfe Comprehensive Secondary School.
Tesfaye's singing career started during his high school days in the early '90s, when he used to sing and entertain fellow students as member of a music group formed by the students' Red Cross Society. After performing as a student singer for approximately five months with the group, Tesfaye joined a music and theater troupe called Mestawet, where he built up his career along with other Ethiopian vocalist of his age.
Tesfaye, who is endowed with a magnificent voice and marvelous singing talent, kept on with his career and started performing in Addis Ababa's night clubs. He performed at a restaurant and club called Shewaget for four years, where he gained the admiration of many music lovers and started to become famous. Around this time, he was also hired by the Kistane Band, with which he performed for one year. An excellent composer in addition to having a magnificent voice, Tesfaye has since released three albums and has become one of the most well-respected young Ethiopian male vocalists in the country's popular music industry. His popularity is even beginning to expand beyond his native country. As The New York Times declared in a review of one of his New York performances in 2008, this African music star plays "modern pop that is well aware of the world outside Ethiopia."
