From Star Wars dialogue coach to jazz great to gospel legend: influential artists we’ve lost to the coronavirus
- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of a number of artists, musicians and entertainers
- We remember seven prominent figures, whose careers span the decades, who have fallen victim to Covid-19
A saxophonist whose sounds helped birth international dance music. An actress who learned alongside one set of Hollywood legends then told the life stories of others. A musician who went from pop-rock bassist to show tune song stylist. Here we take a look at prominent figures in arts, entertainment and culture who have died after contracting the coronavirus in the global pandemic.
Manu Dibango
Musician and composer, Cameroon and France
Dibango’s saxophone sounds and funky African rhythms were revolutionary in his 1970s heyday, and their spirit rings through songs still today.
The Cameroon-born Dibango’s 1972 song Soul Makossa brought him international fame and helped him become one of the most influential figures in the nascent world of international dance music.
The song was constantly imitated, so much so that he would later sue both Michael Jackson and Rihanna, saying they had reused its hooks. The lawsuit against Jackson was settled out of court, and a judge dismissed the suit against Rihanna.
Dibango died March 24 in a hospital in the Paris region. He was 86.