Tony Allen, the influential Nigerian drummer universally regarded as a pioneer of the Afrobeat genre, has passed away. He was 79. The musician’s manager confirmed that he died in Paris earlier today. His cause of death is not yet known, but there has been no link to coronavirus.

“We don’t know the exact cause of death,” Eric Trosset shared via The Guardian.

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

Allen started drumming at 18, cutting his teeth playing in multiple bands before eventually finding his stride with collaborator Fela Kuti in the 1960s. His inimitable presence can be felt on classic albums 1973’s Gentleman, 1975’s Expensive Shit, and the seminal 1976 record Zombie.

“Without Tony Allen there would be no Afrobeat,” Fela Kuti famously proclaimed.

Allen’s illustrious career saw him collaborate with Damon Albarn in The Good, The Bad & The Queen; and a side-band called Rocket Juice & The Moon. Allen also worked with the likes of Grace Jones, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Air, and more. He was the drummer on Angélique Kidjo’s Grammy-winning 2019 album Celia.

Last month, Allen released the synergetic Rejoice, a collaborative record with the late legendary trumpet player Hugh Masekela. Rejoice was recorded in 2010 and lay in an archive until Masekala passed away in 2018.

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“Ten years is a long time from beginning to end of [making] an album,” Allen shared of the project. But my own philosophy is that everything eventually appears at the right time, for a reason…”

Allen was a musician adored by musicians. Producer Brian Eno referred to him as “perhaps the greatest drummer who ever lived”. The music community has come together to pay tribute to Allen, and his boundless legacy.

“The greatest drummer on Earth has left us,” Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote on Instagram. “What a wildman, with a massive, kind and free heart and the deepest one-of-a-kind groove. Fela Kuti did not invent afrobeat, Fela and Tony birthed it together. Without Tony Allen there is NO afrobeat.”

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