Entertainment
SAD….Nigerian great drummer, Tony Allen dies at 79
The death of a Legendary Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, has been announced.
ROYAL NEWS reports that late Tony Allen who died in Paris at the age of 79 created afrobeat along with his old bandmate Fela Kuti.
According to his manager, “We don’t know the exact cause of death,” manager Eric Trosset said, adding it was not linked to the coronavirus.
“He was in great shape, it was quite sudden. I spoke to him at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT), then two hours later he was sick and taken to Pompidou hospital where he died.”
Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti’s band Africa ’70 in the 1960s and 1970s.
During that time the pair created afrobeat, combining West African musical styles such as highlife and fuji music with American imports jazz and funk. Afrobeat went on to become one of the totemic genres of 20th century African music.
Over Allen’s thrilling beat, Fela laid out his revolutionary and pan-African message, which led him to become one of the abiding icons of the struggle for freedom across the continent.
Allen and Fela recorded around 40 albums together in Africa ’70, before parting ways after a mythic 26-year collaboration.
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