Aurlus Mabélé (24 October 1953 – 19 March 2020) was a Congolese singer and composer. He was commonly referred to as the "King of

Soukous Soukous (from French '' secousse'', "shock, jolt, jerk") is a genre of dance music from Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville. It derived from Congolese rumba in the 1960s, becoming known for its fast dance rhythms and intricate guitar impro ...

Biography

Aurlus Mabélé, real name Benoit Aurélien Miatsonama, was born on 24 October 1953 in Brazzaville in the Poto-Poto district in the Republic of Congo. In 1974, he founded, notably with Jean Baron, Pedro Wapechkado and

Mav Cacharel Mav Cacharel (born January 14, 1957) began performing at age 13 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, with his first group Les Ombres. He won the Prix découvertes RFI prize in 1983. He used the money to move to Paris, where he made a living as ...

, the group Les Ndimbola Lokole. Having left the Congo to improve in Europe, he founded, in 1986, with Diblo Dibala and

, the Loketo group. He then created the soukous of which he would be proclaimed "king", hence the slogan "It is Aurlus Mabele the new king of the soukous". In 25 years of career, he has sold more than 10 million albums in the world and has contributed to making the soukous known outside the African continent. Suffering from the consequences of a stroke for five years, he organized with the group Loketo successful concerts in the West Indies between May and June 2009. Accompanied by talented guitarists, he made the whole of Africa dance to music with its typical soukous rhythms (Africa Mousso, La Femme ivoirienne, Embargo, Betty, Asta De, Evelyne, Loketo, etc.).

Illness and death

Aurlus Mabélé had been in and out of hospitals in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

since suffering a stroke. His health had been weak and was partially

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

. Fellow musician Nyboma Mwan'dido, while on tour in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, broke the news of Mabélé's sickness to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

ns and asked his fans to pray for him. At one point of the show he played Mabélé's song as a tribute. Mabélé was diagnosed with

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

and had battled the

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

for about 5 years. Mabélé was admitted to hospital in

Eaubonne Eaubonne () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department, in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Population Twin towns It is twinned with Matlock, Derbyshire, England; Budenheim, Germany and Vălenii ...

on 19 March 2020 and died there the same night. The news of his death was later confirmed via

Social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

(

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

) by his

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between group ...

Liza Monet. Reacting to the news of his death, many musicians and fans eulogized him as a musician and a composer who was good at his craft. His long time

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

wizard Dally Kimoko remembered him for the long years he had worked with him since he replaced Diblo Dibala on

in the band

Loketo Diblo Dibala (born 9 August 1954), often known simply as Diblo, is a Congolese soukous musician, known as "Machine Gun" for his speed and skill on the guitar. He was born in 1954 in Kisangani. He moved to Kinshasa as a child, and aged 15 won ...

Discography

* 1988: Maracas d'or * 1989: Soukouss la terreur (Melody) CD 41007-2 * 1990: Embargo (Melody) * 1992: Stop Arretez ! 1992 (JIP) CD 41021 2 * 1994: Génération-Wachiwa encaisse tout (JIP) CD 41032 2 * 1996: Album 1996 (Melody) CD 41041 2 * 1997: Album 1997 (Melody) * 1997: Best of Aurlus Mabele (Melody) CD 41044 2 * 1998: Proteine 4 (JIP) * 1998: Tour de contrôle (JPS Production) * 1999: Compil one (DEBS Music) * 1999: Compil two (DEBS Music) * 2000: Dossier X JPS Production * Sebene * Africa mousso * La Femme ivoirienne * Réconciliation/cicatrice, by Loketo * Confirmation, by Loketo

References

1953 births 2020 deaths Republic of the Congo musicians People from Brazzaville Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France 20th-century male singers 20th-century composers 21st-century male singers 21st-century composers {{Africa-singer-stub