Papa Wemba, who was known as the “king of Congolese rumba” for helping to bring the highly popular sound to an global audience, was 66.
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Congolese pop star Papa Wemba is hoisted by supporters in France in 2004.
The flamboyant world music singer died after collapsing during a set in the early hours of Sunday at the Urban Musical Festival Anoumabo (FEMUA) in Abidjan.
Footage from the show in Ivory Coast showed him slumped on stage.
FEMUA officials expressed “deep sorrow” at Wemba’s death.
He had fans across Africa and Europe and worked with global stars including former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel, whom Wemba toured with in the 1990s and appears on Gabriel’s Secret World Live album.
Wemba was also a style icon, inspiring generations of young, fashionable Central Africans known popularly as sapeurs.
Papa Wemba, whose real name was Jules Wembadio Kikumba, was born on June 14, 1949.
Papa Wemba, 66, was confirmed dead by Culture Minister Baudouin Banza Mukalay, who said his death is a ‘great loss for Congo and all of Africa’.
The musician rose to fame in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa during the 1970s with the band Zaiko Langa Langa. I saw the dancers surround Papa Wemba.
He went on to reach a much wider public thanks to a world music album produced by France’s Martin Meissonnier in 1988, which blended African and Western sounds.
As an accomplished singer, Papa Wemba was also known as an actor.
He remained one of Africa’s most popular musicians.
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In 2003, Wemba spent more than three months in jail after French and Belgian authorities accused him of helping Congolese immigrants illegally obtain visas by passing them off as musicians working with him on European shows.
