BREAKING: Fela’s Ex-Drummer, Legendary Tony Allen Is Dead

Former drummer, composer and songwriter of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Tony Allen, has passed away suddenly at the age of 79 in Paris on Thursday, his manager said.

“We don’t know the exact cause of death,” manager Eric Trosset said, adding it was not linked to the coronavirus.

“He was in great shape, it was quite sudden. I spoke to him at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT), then two hours later he was sick and taken to Pompidou hospital where he died.”

He was born in Lagos in 1940 and was regarded as one of the founders of Afrobeat.

Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti’s band Africa ’70 in the 1960s and 1970s.

Over Tony Allen’s thrilling beat, Fela laid out his revolutionary and pan-African message with afrobeat, which led him to become one of the abiding icons of the struggle for freedom across the continent.

Allen and Fela recorded around 40 albums together in Africa ’70, before parting ways after a mythic 26-year collaboration.

Such was the hole that Allen left in his band, Fela needed four drummers to replace him.

Allen taught himself to play the drums from the age of 18, drawing inspiration from American jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker as well as contemporary African music.

Fela once stated that, “Without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat.”