Cameroon Afro-jazz singer and saxophone player Manu Dibango has died of coronavirus infection.
His official Facebook page on Tuesday announced that it “is with deep sadness that we announce the loss of Manu Dibango, our Papy Groove, who passed away on 24th of March 2020, at 86 years old, further to covid 19.”
Dibango died on Tuesday morning at a hospital outside the French capital, Paris.
The 86-year-old jazz musician was one of the pioneers of Afro jazz, fusing funk and traditional music from his homeland.
His family asked for strict privacy for his funeral, but did say they planned to hold a tribute to his memory when it could be organised.
Last Friday another African Musician from Congo Aurlus Mabélé also died in hospital in France’s capital Paris, aged 67.
Mabélé died after being infected by coronavirus. His daughter, French singer Liza Monet said in a tweet that her father had died of coronavirus.
His real name is Aurélien Miatsonama and hails from Congo-Brazzaville. He however moved to France in the 1980s.
Rose Marie Compaoré, a vice-president in the national assembly of Burkina Faso was also another prominent African who died of the virus this month.
She was diabetic and died at the age of 62 after suffering complications from the infection.
Source: Africafeeds.com