The drummer Tony Allen, who is widely hailed as one of the founders of Afrobeat, has died at the age 79.
Drummer Tony Allen, performing at the Glastonbury Festival in England in 2010. Allen died Thursday at age 79.Drummer Tony Allen, performing at the Glastonbury Festival in England in 2010. Allen died Thursday at age 79.Drummer Tony Allen has died at age 79. He is widely hailed as one of the founders of Afrobeat alongside his longtime musical partner Fela Kuti, with whom he played for 15 years.
Allen died Wednesday evening in Paris of a heart attack, his manager, Eric Trosset, told NPR. Trosset toldthat Allen took ill in the afternoon and was taken to the Hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou, where he died. Behind the kit, Allen used his whole body — laying out intricate polyrhythms with all four limbs. "Without Tony Allen," Kuti famouslyAllen was born Tony Oladipo Allen in Lagos, Nigeria in 1940. He didn't begin playing the drums until age 18 — but once he began, that was it. Just months later, while he was working as an electrical technician for a radio station in his native Lagos, he announced to his disappointed parents that he intended to become a musician.
Allen met Kuti in the early 1960s, when both were gigging around Lagos. By 1964, they were playing together: first American-style jazz, and then, for about five years, a more African-inflected,Allen came of age idolizing such American jazz drummers as Gene Krupa, Art Blakey and Max Roach. As he told NPR's
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tony Allen, Pioneering Afrobeat Drummer, Has DiedTony Allen, the pioneering Afrobeat drummer whose work with Fela Kuti and Africa 70 defined a genre, has died
Read more »
How Fela Kuti Drummer Tony Allen Rediscovered His Jazz RootsIn 2017, Tony Allen told us why he ditched vocals and went in search of a new sound. The pioneering Afrobeat drummer died Thursday
Read more »
NBC to Air Byron Allen, Funny or Die-Produced Comedy Special Benefiting Feeding AmericaNBC has partnered with Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios and Funny or Die to air a two-hour comedy special on Sunday, May 10, benefiting Feeding America, a hunger-relied organization. “Ther…
Read more »
Under CEO Tony Xu, DoorDash has started new services during the crisis - Business InsiderDoorDash, buoyed by surging demand and ample capital, has launched new services like toilet paper deliveries from convenience stores during the COVID crisis. CEO Tony Xu says it's being 'extremely agile.'
Read more »
Survivor Winners at War Blowout: Battle Lines Are Drawn After Tony Takes Control of the GameAfter orchestrating last week's epic blindside, Kim starts to rally the troops against the man she believes is running the whole show -- and she's not wrong.
Read more »
Skateboard legend Tony Hawk on the impact of coronavirus: 'I have lost a lot of business'Hawk, whose net worth is reported to be $140 million, said he was trying to 'figure out new ways to stay in business' during the lockdown.
Read more »