On the 24th of April 2016, Congolese music legend, Papa Wemba, slumped and died on stage while performing at a music festival in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. A great loss to the African music industry, Jule Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikuma, popularly known as Papa Wemba, not only made Congolese Rhumba music popular, he was also instrumental to the development of some of Africa’s foremost music styles.

Papa Wemba was born June 14, 1949 and started his musical career in religious choirs and rose to fame in his twenties. He then gained global recognition, touring with the likes of Stevie Wonder and Peter Gabriel and earned a gold disc for his collaboration with Peter Gabriel.

If you were born in the 80s, here is what you probably didn’t know about him:

Creating a Niche for himself

He broke out of his native Democratic Republic of Congo and became one of the most internationally successful world’s artist. He was in several bands and later went on to create his own bands, the first called the Zaiko Langa Langa, which became one of the very popular youth bands in the Republic of Congo for its Rhumba Rock movement and the second known as the Viva La Musica band. Viva La Musica, within a year of being put together, was named Best Orchestra. And Papa Wemba was named best singer.

Unique dress sense

He was very popular for his flamboyant dress sense and this inspired an entire subculture, a group of young fashionistas known as “Les Sapeurs” who still strut the streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. They are known to wear expensive designer clothes despite the poverty, leading many to refer to them as a fashion cult.

Legal tussle 

He was arrested in 2004 in his Paris home over some immigration issues. He was said to have taken part in an immigration racket known as the “Ngulu Phenomenon.” This is a situation whereby people fleeing war-ravaged Congo paid to be concealed among African bands. He was convicted of the offence and sentenced to 30 months in prison. He ended up spending only three and a half months in prison.

His popular songs

However, this does not take away the fact that he was an icon among his people and influenced the music world in Congo. He was very popular for his songs from Yolele, Wake up, Ye te oh, to Moyi, the list goes on, living a full life till his death.

Unfortunately, this very popular African icon collapsed and died on Saturday while performing on stage at a musical festival in Abidjan Ivory Coast and the cause of his death is still unknown.