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Rex Jim Lawson was a prominent figure in the Nigerian highlife music scene, known for his popular tunes that resonated across Africa. He was born to mixed Kalabari and Igbo parentage in New Kalabar, present-day Rivers State. Lawson began his musical journey with the Starlite Melody Orchestra in Port Harcourt, led by Lord Eddyson. By 1960, he was leading his own group, the Nigeriaphone Studio Orchestra of Onitsha, and collaborated with notable Nigerian highlife artists such as Bobby Benson, Roy Chicago, and Victor Olaiya. His second group, the Majors Band of Nigeria, later known as the Rivers Men, produced numerous hits during the 1960s and early 1970s, with "Sawale" being one of his biggest successes, remade by various artists over the years. The rise of Dance Band Highlife Music marked the early part of his career, but this changed with the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967, which severely impacted highlife orchestras led by Eastern musicians, including Lawson's Rivers Men. Tragically, Rex Lawson died in a car crash in 1971. Following his death, members of his backup group, The Rivers Men, continued to influence the music scene by re-establishing themselves as The Professional Seagulls Dance Band and The Peacocks, recording several LPs of their own.

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