The Nigerian drummer Tony Allen has died at the age of 79 in Paris. His manager, Eric Trosset said he died on Thursday Aprin 30, 2020, adding that “We don’t know the exact cause of death”. His dead is however not linked to the current Coronavirus.
“He was in great shape,” Trosset noted. “It was quite sudden. I spoke to him at 1pm then two hours later he was sick and taken to Pompidou hospital, where he died.”
He is credited with creating Afrobeat along with his old bandmate Fela Kuti
Tony Oladipo Allen who was born in Lagos, Nigeria on 12 August 1940 is credited with creating Afrobeat along with his old bandmate Fela Kuti. He was a drummer, composer, and songwriter who lived and worked in Paris, France. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti’s band Africa ’70 from 1968 to 1979 and was one of the primary co-founders of the genre of Afrobeat music. Fela once stated that “without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat.” He has also been described by Brian Eno as “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived.”
Allen’s career and life story were documented in his 2013 autobiography Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat, co-written with author/musician Michael E. Veal, who previously wrote a comprehensive biography of Fela Kuti.
Tony Allen is recognised as one of the greatest drummer of all times. The British musician and producer Brian Eno has called Allen “perhaps the greatest drummer who ever lived”.
Many artists around the world have been paying tribute to the music legend.
Flea tweeted ” The epic Tony Allen, the greatest drummer on earth has left us. What a wildman with a massive, kind and free heart and the deepest one-of-a-kind groove. Fela Kuti did not invent afrobeat, Fela and Tony birthed it “
