{"id":805607,"date":"2020-03-24T09:10:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T15:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=972070"},"modified":"2020-03-24T09:10:52","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T15:10:52","slug":"manu-dibango-african-jazz-great-behind-soul-makossa-dead-at-86-from-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/manu-dibango-african-jazz-great-behind-soul-makossa-dead-at-86-from-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Manu Dibango, African Jazz Great Behind \u2018Soul Makossa,\u2019 Dead at 86 From Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Manu Dibango, the acclaimed Cameroonian saxophonist whose 1972 hit \u201cSoul Makossa\u201d would later be sampled by Michael Jackson, Kanye West and dozens of other musicians, died Tuesday from the coronavirus<\/a>. He was 86.<\/p>\n

A note on Dibango\u2019s Facebook<\/a> page confirmed his death, as well as the cause (Dibango was hospitalized<\/a> in France last week with Covid-19<\/a>). The note said the funeral would be a private family event, but suggested a tribute would be scheduled soon. Fans were also encouraged to send condolences to manu@manudibango.net.<\/p>\n

Dibango was born in Cameroon in 1933 and moved to Paris at the age of 15, where he began to play the saxophone and piano. By the early Fifties, he was gigging around Paris and would soon become a regular on the European jazz circuit. His recording career <\/span>began in 1968, with a self-titled album, and in 1972, during a trip to New York, he would write and record his most famous song, \u201cSoul Makossa.\u201d<\/p>\n