Former drummer, composer and songwriter of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Tony Allen, has passed away. Allen died in Paris, France, on Thursday. He was born in Lagos in 1940 and was regarded as one of the founders of Afrobeat.
“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.
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