Soukous musicians and fans are mourning the death of musician Aurlus Mabele who recently died of coronavirus in Paris.
His daughter, French singer Liza Monet confirmed on her Facebook page that Aurlus Mabele had succumbed to coronavirus infection. The Congolese people have lost a soukous legend, she said, adding: “I am inconsolable”.
The soukous star from Congo Brazzaville died at the age of 67.
“We are very sad for our loss. Aurlus was a great entertainer and made many, many people happy in his time,” said the US based Rumba and Soukous star Samba Mapangala, the founder and leader of Orchestre Virunga.
The UK based Afrobeats singer JazRoyal said he was saddened to hear of Mabele’s death. He described him as a giant of African music. “The King of Soukous will be missed. He changed the music scene by blending traditional African and Caribbean rhythms with pop and soul. You must be an artist and genius to do that. As the saying goes: Artists never die. You are still with us Mwana Mboka (a child of the country).”
He moved to Paris in late 1980s where he formed a new band called Loketo, meaning “hips” in Lingala, a language widely spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Congo-Brazzaville.
It was with his new band Loketo that he released most of his successful hits including “Embargo”, “Betty” “Asta-De”, “Mawa” and “Liste Rouge”.
By Stephen Ogongo Ongong’a