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Guinean music icon, Mory Kante has died.
Kante helped
introduce African music to the world stage in the 1980s. He died at the age of
70.
The ‘Yeke
Yeke’ hitmaker died in hospital on Friday in the Guinea capital, Conakry, and
the sad news was confirmed by his son, Balla Kanté.
He told the
AFP news agency his father died from health problems that had been left
untreated due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
“He suffered
from chronic illnesses and often travelled to France for treatment but that was
no longer possible with the coronavirus.
We saw his
condition deteriorate rapidly, but I was still surprised because he’d been
through much worse times before.”
Kante, who
started his career in the 1970s as a member of the Rail Band, was best known
for his 1987 song Yeke Yeke which became a number one hit in countries across
Europe in 1988.
The song
became the first African record to sell more than one million copies and was
given a special remix for the UK, named the Afro Acid Mix, and it peaked at
number. 25.
Some of his
notable albums include ‘Mory Kanté a Paris’ (1984), ‘Akwaba Beach’ (1987),
‘Touma’ (1990), and ‘Nongo Village’ (1993).
President of
Guinea, Alpha Condé paid tribute to Mory Kante and hailed him for his
“exceptional” career.
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