Senegalese music legend Thione Seck dies after short illness
Seck died at the age of 66 after a musical career spanning 40 years.
CAPE TOWN, March 15 (ANA) – Senegalese music legend Thione Seck died on Sunday morning in the country’s capital of Dakar after a short illness, according to a statement issued by his lawyer.
One of Senegal’s biggest music stars, with a discography spanning 40 years, Seck died at the age of 66 at the Fann hospital in Dakar, according to AFP news agency.
Seck, who rose to fame in the early 1970s, was one of the West African country’s most famous musicians, alongside Youssou Ndour, Omar Pene, Ismael Lo, and his own son, Wally Seck.
According to an AFP report, in the 1970s he sang in the Orchestra Baobab, known for playing a mix of Afro-Cuban salsa and traditional Senegalese music.
Tributes have poured in from around the world for the singer, who also had a successful solo career.
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“This news fills me with sadness. At this moment, I think of his family and loved ones. We already miss his humanity and his talent,” said his lawyer, Ousmane Seye, according to the website Dakaractu.com.
He founded Raam Daan in the 1980s, which became one of the most popular purveyors of mbalax, a genre combining funk, reggae, dance music and local rhythms, reported AFP.
According to local media reports, Seck is to be buried in a cemetery in the Dakar area of Yoff on Sunday afternoon.
Despite an illustrious 40-year career, the singer’s last few years were marred by scandal.
He was arrested in May 2015 after fake banknotes worth €50 million were found in his Dakar house.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher