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Tributes have been pouring in from across Ghana and the world over the death of Ghanaian highlife maestro, pioneer, and legend Ebo Taylor, who died on Saturday at 90.
A guitarist, composer, and bandleader, he has had a six-decade career that helped shape modern West African music and earned him a place among the founding fathers of contemporary highlife.
His work bridged highlife with Afrobeat, jazz, and soul, influencing generations and resonating beyond Ghana. Highlife, a genre blending traditional African rhythms with jazz and Caribbean influences, was recently added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Born Deroy Taylor in Cape Coast in 1936, he began performing in the 1950s, as highlife was establishing itself as the dominant sound in Ghana in the years following independence. Known affectionately as “Uncle Ebo,” he performed with top bands, studied in London with Fela Kuti, and later inspired a global revival of his grooves through reissues and samples.
Taylor passed a day after a city festival bearing his name launched in Accra, just after his milestone birthday. The world mourns a giant of African music whose light will endure in his timeless recordings and enduring influence.
