The originator of "Afrobeat," Fela was one of the best known African musicians, recording more than 50 albums. He is best known for his compostitions such as "Zombies," a commentary on the Nigerian military: "African Lady," about his love of Nigerian women; "Coffin For Head of State;" and "Beasts of No Nation," about Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

Fela's hard driving, polyrhythmic music had no peers. His large ensembles would play one tune for more than an hour. During his lifetime, he toured internationally, including the US. He studied music in Britain but was also influenced through time spent in Ghana and the US.

Fela opened a nightclub, the Shrine, and his commune, the Kalakuta Republic, in a Lagos suburb. Government soldiers burned it to the ground in 1977. He changed his name from Ransome to Anikulapo ("one who keeps death in his pouch" in Yoruba).

In recent years, Fela had been keeping a low profile. Earlier this year, the Nigerian drug squad detained Fela in an attempt to get him to renounce marijuana use. "I have been smoking for 40 years. It helps my music. People know I smoke worldwide. It is not drugs, it is grass" Fela maintained.

Fela will be remembered in the hearts of his many ex-wives and lovers, borther Beko Ransome Kuti (an imprisoned dissident) and brother Olikoye Ransome Kuti (physician and former WHO deputy director).

 

Important Dates in the Life of Fela Angikulapo Kuti 1938 (October 15): Fela born as Fela Ransome Kuti in Abeokuta, Nigeria. 1959-1962: Fela studies music at Trinity College in Oxford, England. 1963: Fela returns home from Britain and forms the Koola Lobitos band. 1975-1977: Founds Afrika 70 (which later becames Egypt 80) Records 17 albums. 1977: Soldiers stormed his house, the "Kalakuta Republic," in Lagos, and burn it to the ground. His mother was badly injured in the raid; she dies six months later. 1978: Fela marries 27 wives at a ceremony. 1979: Fela and companions place coffin of his mother on steps of Nigerian Junta headquarters. Intention is to show that the power of the human spirit is stronger than that of the State. 1980: Fela starts his political party: Movement of the People (MOP). 1984: Fela arrested at the airport, enroute to his first US tour. Convicted of illegally exporting foreign currency and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.. 1985: Fela released by General Ibrahim Babaganda after he takes power in another coup. 1996: Fela's home attacked by gunmen.