Aurlus Mabélé

Aurlus Mabélé (24 October 1953 - 19 March 2020) was a Congolese singer and composer. He was commonly referred to as the "King of Soukous".

Biography

Aurlus Mabélé, real name Benoit Aurélien Miatsonama, was born on 24 October 1953 in Brazzaville in the Poto-Poto district in the Republic of Congo.

In 1974, he founded the group Les Ndimbola Lokole with Pedro Wapechkado, Mav Cacharel and Jean Baron.

He later left the Congo for Europe, founding Loketo in 1986 with Diblo Dibala and Mav Cacharel. His soukous music swept Africa and he would be proclaimed "king", hence the slogan "It is Aurlus Mabele the new king of the soukous".

In 25 years he has sold more than 10 million albums and contributed to making soukous known outside continent.

He player many concerts, despite suffering a stroke. In June 2009 he played in the West Indies.

Accompanied by talented guitarists, he made the whole of Africa dance to soukous rhythms (Africa Mousso, La Femme ivoirienne, Embargo, Betty, Asta De, Evelyne, Loketo, etc.).

Illness and death

Aurlus Mabélé had been in and out of hospitals in Paris since suffering a stroke. His health had been weak and he was partially paralyzed.

Mabélé was diagnosed with throat cancer and had battled the disease for about 5 years. Fellow musician Nyboma Mwan'dido, while on tour in Kenya, broke the news of Mabélé's sickness to Kenyans and asked his fans to pray for him. At one point of the show he played Mabélé's song as a tribute.

Mabélé was admitted to hospital in Eaubonne on 19 March 2020 and died there the same night. The news of his death was later confirmed via social media (Twitter) by his daughter Liza Monet. Reacting to the news of his death, many musicians and fans eulogized him as a musician and a composer. His long time guitar wizard Dally Kimoko remembered him, having been in Loketo for many years, after replacing Diblo Dibala.