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Nigeria’s enigmatic musician known for his synth –funk albums has passed on at the age of 72. Luaka Bop, the label behind the retrospective compilation Who Is William Onyeabor?, announced his death on Facebook, saying he died peacefully in his sleep following a brief illness at his home in Enugu, Nigeria.
“It is with incredibly heavy hearts that we have to announce that the great Nigerian business leader and mythic music pioneer William Onyeabor has passed away at the age of 70,” wrote the label, describing him as “an extraordinary artist, businessman and visionary”.
Born in 1946, Onyeabor composed and self-released nine albums of groundbreaking synth-based funk between 1977-1985, which he recorded, pressed and printed at his personal pressing plant, Wilfilms Limited, in south east Nigeria.
In the 1980s, he abandoned music to concentrate on his business pursuits . It took Luaka Bop five years to track him down and persuade him to license his music for a reissue, 2013’s hugely successful Who is William Onyeabor?.
A film documentary about him called Fantastic man was released in 2014. Onyeabor declined most interview requests about his music, and was dedicated to his religion after becoming born again later in life. He is best known for his timeless record ‘When The Going Is Smooth And Good’, passed away in his Enugu home on January 16th, 2017.His son Charles says he wasn’t ill; his time simply was up – he went to bed normally and died in his sleep.
Until his death on Monday, he was a successful businessman whose elusiveness bewildered journalists who have chased him for decades.
Watch the documentary on his life here