The saxophonist Fela Kuti died at the age of 58. Here is all you want to know, and more!
Biography - A Short Wiki
Afrobeat pioneer, political activist, composer, and musician. His life was commemorated in an off-Broadway musical called Fela!, which was nominated for more than ten Tony Awards.
He married his first wife, Remilekun Taylor, in 1960 and had three children with her; in 1978, he married twenty-seven women.
Quotes
"“Fela Kuti blew my mind. His playing is very unorthodox, but I learned how to appreciate that.” (Kamasi Washington)
"“Because the Internet’s there, I have access to a lot of the legends, like Fela Kuti. I used to watch a lot of Fela Kuti videos, just to see how he performed. He inspired me a lot, actually, because he was a man of many words, many good words.” (King Krule)
"“Listening to the type of music I grew up with, like King Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti and experiencing different things and conditions and hardship, as well as the good times in Nigeria, has definitely carved me into who I am.” (Nneka)
"“Stuff like Buena Vista Social Club and Fela Kuti were quite a main thing to my childhood. As soon as I reached an age where I realized that Fela was singing in English, when I got past his accent, I loved the rawness of it, and the funk and the rhythm and the melody.” (King Krule)
"“We used to play a lot of Fela Kuti in the early days of hip-hop. In my DJ sets I’ll jump off into rock, salsa, African. I like to play some crazy stuff and see the vibrations of the people.” (Afrika Bambaataa)