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Zimbabwe’s greatest music export Oliver Mtukudzi is dead.
The sixty-six-year-old music legend and philanthropist passed away today, Wednesday the 23rd of January 2019, according to TshisaLIVE.
The veteran jazz maestro musician who belted out his first tune "Stop after Orange" in 1975 before taking over the world with his mega-hit Todii decades later, died at the Avenues Clinic, Harare.
Born in 1952, Mtukudzi was working on his 67th album, Hanya'Ga before he suffered a heart attack and had been in hospital since November 2018.
According to All Music, Mtukudzi was nicknamed Tuku after masterfully blending Southern African music traditions such as “mbira, mbaqanga, jit, and the traditional drumming styles of the Korekore,” to create his own “unique sound that been respectfully dubbed Tuku music."
After his debut single Stop After Orange in 1975, Mtukudzi began performing with the Wagon Wheels before leaving the group in 1979 to pursue a solo career.
He formed a new group, the Black Spirits, which according to All Music, resulted in their hit song Dzandimomotera being certified gold.
The icon, however, tasted his first success as a solo artist in 1980 with his debut solo album Africa, that packed hits such as Zimbabwe and Mazongonyedze.
1980 was also a year of firsts, a time when Zimbabwe gained its independence and ushered a 37 - year reign of deposed revolutionary leader President Robert Mugabe. A leader whose politics he steered clear of.
He is survived by four children.
