Congolese Soukous star Aurlus Mabele succumbs to COVID-19

Mar 21, 2020

His counterpart Nyboma Mwandido confirmed his death on Friday saying the musician who had been battling cancer for a while, succumbed to the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 19 in Paris, France.

TRIBUTE

Congolese Soukous King Aurlus Mabele has died. His counterpart Nyboma Mwandido confirmed his death on Friday saying the musician who had been battling cancer for a while, succumbed to the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 19 in Paris, France.

COVID-19 is a new viral illness in the family of coronaviruses, characterized by fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have nasal congestion, sore throat or diarrhea.

In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

According to the World Health Organisation, COVID-19 mostly affects older persons as well as those with pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease, cancer, and diabetes.

A novel coronavirus map, tracking COVID-19 outbreak in real-time shows that France has so far had 10,995 confirmed cases, 372 deaths and 12 patients who have so far recovered from the disease.

Who is Mabele?

Mabele, 67 was born Aurelien Miatsonama in 1954 in Brazaville in the Poto Poto district of the Republic of Congo.

He staged a number of concerts in Kampala in the early 1990s.

He was known for creating the soukous genre of music, earning him the moniker King of Soukous.

Some of his hit songs include; Lubo Lubo, Evelyne, Tchekelina, Malou, among others.

In 1974, he formed a music group Les Ndimbola Lokole with peers such as Jean Baron, Pedro Wapechkado and Mav Cacharel.

He later joined hands with Mav Cacharel and Diblo Dibala in 1986 to form Loketo, which went to create hits including Extra Ball, Embargo and Liste Rouge, among others.

Soukous, derived from the French word secousse, to mean shock, jolt, jerk, is a genre of dance music from the Congo Basin. It derived from Congolese rumba in the 1960s and gained popularity in the 1980s in France.

Other notable performers of the genre included African Fiesta, Papa Wemba and Pépé Kallé.

Others stars who have tested positive for Coronavirus include British actor Idris Elba, US's Tom Hanks and Kristofer Hivju. A Tanzanian rapper Mwana FA, born Khamis Mwinjuma  confirmed on March 19 when he tested positive for coronavirus. Chelsea Football Club striker Callum Hudson-Odoi also tested positive for the coronavirus on March 12.

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