FELA ANIKULAPO-KUTI
Nigerian pop singer
LAGOS,
Nigeria -- (AP) -- Fela Anikulapo-Kuti,
a pop superstar who fused rock with
African rhythms into a blend known as
``Afrobeat'' and was a persistent critic
of Nigeria's military regime, has died
of AIDS, his family said Sunday. He
was 58.
The
singer's death Saturday was announced
by his brother, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti,
in a statement broadcast on national
television. No cause of death was given
at the time. Throngs of stunned, tearful
fans gathered outside Fela's nightclub,
the Shrine, after hearing the news.
Ransome-Kuti,
a doctor and former health minister,
joined other family members at a news
conference Sunday and confirmed that
Fela had died of heart failure caused
by AIDS. That immediately raised questions
about whether any of Fela's 27 wives
had contracted the disease.
Fela,
known across the continent by his first
name, was one of the dominant superstars
of African music in the 1970s and '80s
and had recorded more than 50 albums.
He
also became famous for his songs criticizing
the military junta of Gen. Sani Abacha,
as well as earlier military regimes
in Nigeria, West Africa's most populous
nation.
``Fela
was a great legend who used his music
tirelessly to bring about social justice,''
said Rasheed Gbadamosi, a prominent
businessman and writer.
Fela,
a saxophone player, was born in 1938
in Abeokuta, about 50 miles north of
the capital, Lagos. He started out as
a jazz musician but shifted toward pop
and reggae while studying at Trinity
College of Music in Oxford, England,
from 1959 to 1962.
He
also spent time in Ghana and the United
States, where he developed a strong
interest in politics and civil rights.
Returning to Nigeria for good in 1973,
he swiftly became a big star. His top
albums included Zombie, Army Arrangement
and Vagabond in Power.
``For
us, he was a monument, a reference point,''
prize-winning singer Lokua Kanza of
Congo told The Associated Press in Paris.
``To hear him was like a blast of fresh
air, a shock.''
He
became enmeshed in a long-running confrontation
with military authorities because of
his urging that young Nigerians become
more politically active. Troops burned
down Fela's house in 1977.
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