William Onyeabor, known for pioneering electro-funk in Nigeria, has passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 70. The mysterious man can be credited for bringing space-age disco and funk through the 70’s and 80’s, composing, recording, and manually pressing nine albums by hand, before becoming a born-again Christian. From 1985 until now, Onyeabor not only retired from the music industry, but refused to publicly discuss his work almost entirely. With many theories surrounding his whereabouts, the most recent Wikipedia claim is that he worked as a taxi driver in Ireland.
More recently, Onyeabor’s music was revitalized through a compilation album organized by Talking Heads’ David Byrne, called Who Is William Onyeabor?. Byrne even went so far as to form a supergroup with Money Mark, Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem), Kele Okereke (Bloc Party), Luke Jenner (The Rapture), Devonte Hynes (Blood Orange), Joshua Redman, The Lidaju Sisters, Ghostpoet, and Sinkane called Atomic Bomb!.
Read more about William Onyeabor in the Facebook post below, as written by Luaka Bop:
William Onyeabor is perhaps best known for his song “Better Change Your Mind,” which you can listen to below:
Rest In Peace, William Onyeabor!