Tony Allen, one of the most important figures in Afrobeat history, has died aged 79.
News of the drummer’s death was confirmed by his manager, Eric Trosser, in a statement to Rolling Stone. The magazine reports that Allen died of abdominal aortic aneurysm at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1940, Allen took up drumming aged 18, inspired in part by Blue Note jazz. He came to be regarded as one of the finest practitioners of all time, particularly thanks to his extensive collaborations in Africa ‘70 with Fela Kuti, who once said: “Without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat.”
Along with releasing solo material throughout his career, Allen manned the kit in recent years for The Good, The Bad and The Queen alongside Blur’s Damon Albarn, the Verve’s Simon Tong and Paul Simonon of the Clash.
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