Ebo Taylor, the Ghanaian guitarist, composer and band leader whose work helped define the highlife genre and influenced generations of African musicians, has died at the age of 90, his family has announced.
Born Deroy Taylor in the city of Cape Coast in 1936, he rose to prominence during the late 1950s and early 1960s as highlife became Ghana's dominant musical form...
In the last 25 years of his life, his music was rediscovered by a global audience with the release of tracks like Love & Death – his reflection on relationships and mortality – driving a fresh host of fans. A formative period in Taylor's musical development came in the early 1960s when he travelled to London to study music...
Reflecting on his own influences, he told the BBC in 2014 that with the advent of James Brown and funk music there was the opportunity to develop highlife music... Towards the end of the last century and the beginning of this, Taylor spent more time teaching music at the University of Ghana... His contribution to music has created worldwide ripples, making him a legend both in Ghana and beyond.
