21 Years after: Remembering late Afrobeat King, Fela Anikulapo Kuti who died in1997

On this day 21 years ago, Fela Anikulapo Kuti a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer, pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre, human rights activist, and political maverick died at the age of 58 from complications related to AIDS.

If the Nigerian legend were still alive, he would have clocked 80 on October 15, 2018 unfortunately that day will be the climax of the annual Felabration Music Festival held in his honour.

In his lifetime, Fela was known worldwide as a great musician and activist and years after his death, his Afrobeat sound continues to dictate and dominate the sound of music all over the world leaving his indelible footprint in the sands of time.


His self pioneered Afrobeat sound has put Nigerian music, culture, arts and sound on a new pedestal in the world as much as lyrics of Fela's songs continue to remain relevant in the current politicial and economic clime in Nigeria.

Late Fela Kuti let the world with a rich repartoire of music and albums including Why Black Man Dey Suffer (1971), Shakara (1972), Afrodisiac (1973), Gentleman (1973) and many more.