Veteran Congolese Musician Pascal Tabu Ley Rochereau Dies.
Veteran Congolese musician Pascal
Tabu Ley Rochereau has died in a Belgium hospital.
His former band manager, Mr Mekansi
Modero, who is now based in USA said a close member of the musician's family
called him confirming the death.
Nyboma Mwandido, a fellow musician
who lives in in Paris also confirmed the death of the veteran crooner, which
occurred on Saturday at 8 am in Brussels, Belgium.
Tabu Ley has been critically ill in
the Belgium hospital where he was undergoing treatment for a stroke he suffered
in 2008. The stroke left him confined to a wheelchair.
The performer, whose popular hits
like Muzina, Maze and Sorozo rocked millions of fans in Africa,
was a celebrated musician, whose songs continue to enjoy airplay years after
they were released.
In the past, Tabu Ley unsuccessfully
tried his hand in politics, after he was appointed a Cabinet minister by
President Laurent Kabila in 1997 and a later nominated to parliament.
Earlier, the Rhumba artiste, who
refused to be President Mobutu Sese Seko's court poet, was forced into exile.
In the last couple of years, he has
been living in Paris, France receiving medical care. In recent months, he was
taken to Belgium for specialised treatment.
Tabu Ley is is one of the few of his
generation of musicians, who included Joseph Kabasele, alias Grand Kallé or
Nicolas Kasanda, alias Nico.
He launched his career in Kinshasa
in 1959 both as a composer, signer and dancer, in Joseph Kabasele’s African Jazz
Band and officially ended it in 2009.
Tabu Ley composed around 2,000 songs
and produced 250 albums.
May his soul rest in eternal peace!
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