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

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 the group Les Ndimbola Lokole with Pedro Wapechkado,

Mav Cacharel Mav Cacharel (born January 14, 1957) is a Congolese soukous singer. Biography He 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 ...

and Jean Baron. He later left the Congo for Europe, founding

Loketo Diblo Dibala (born 9 August 1954), often known simply as Diblo, is a Democratic Republic of the Congo, 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 Kinsh ...

in 1986 with Diblo Dibala and

. His soukous music swept Africa and he would be proclaimed "king", hence the slogan "It is Aurlus Mabele the new king of the soukous". In 25 years he has sold more than 10 million albums and contributed to making soukous known outside continent. He player many concerts, despite suffering a stroke. In June 2009 he played in the West Indies. Accompanied by talented guitarists, he made the whole of Africa dance to 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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

since suffering a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. His health had been weak and he was partially

paralyzed Paralysis (: paralyses; 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, r ...

. Mabélé was diagnosed with

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

and had battled the disease . Fellow musician Nyboma Mwan'dido, while on tour in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, broke the news of Mabélé's sickness to

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 admitted to hospital in

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

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

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

(

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) by his

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

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

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

wizard Dally Kimoko remembered him, having been in

for many years, after replacing Diblo Dibala.

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