Ray Phiri: South Africa’s Graceland star dies
South African jazz legend Ray Phiri has died at the age of 70 after a two-month battle with lung cancer.
The guitarist, producer and vocalist rose to fame when he featured on Paul Simon's Graceland album in 1986.
He was admitted to hospital two weeks ago and died in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Family
spokesperson Paul Nkanyane says he was surrounded by friends and
relatives at the clinic, in the north-eastern city of Nelspruit.
Mr Phiri's condition became public this week when a friend and fellow
musician started a crowdfunding initiative to help pay for his medical
bills.
In an interview with The Sowetan newspaper earlier this
month, Phiri said: "Let me suffer [in peace with my] pain, on my own
with my dignity."
Tributes have been pouring in for Phiri on Twitter, with people using the hashtag #RIPRayPhiri:
The group's afro-fusion sounds combined jazz with mbaqanga - a Zulu musical style with rural roots.
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