Audio By Carbonatix
Congolese music star Aurlus Mabele has died in hospital in France's capital Paris, aged 67.
Posts on social media from friends and relatives say he died of coronavirus but this is not confirmed.
His fans called him the king of soukous - a high-tempo Congolese dance music popular across Africa.
His daughter, French singer Liza Monet, tweeted on Thursday that her father had died of coronavirus. "I am inconsolable" she wrote.
Fellow member of the supergroup Loketo, Mav Cacharel, also said on Facebook that he had died of coronavirus.
His manager, Jimmy Ouetenou, however, told BBC Afrique that it was not confirmed he died of coronavirus and that he had long-term health problems.
He was admitted to hospital on Thursday and died on the same day.
Mabele, whose real name is Aurelien Miatsonama, was from Congo-Brazzaville and moved to France in the 1980s.
He became famous across East Africa in the 1980s, selling more than 10 million albums, according to the music website Music in Africa.
Latest Stories
-
World Bank pushes regional health strategy to close financing gaps in West and Central Africa
9 minutes -
Britney Spears pleads guilty to reckless driving after arrest
13 minutes -
Parentage, not paternity: Ghana’s proposed compulsory paternity testing bill sparks fears of discrimination against mothers
14 minutes -
Samsung family pays off record $8bn inheritance tax bill
19 minutes -
Spain seizes record amount of cocaine in Atlantic Ocean, authorities say
21 minutes -
Two killed and many injured after car driven into crowd in German city of Leipzig
27 minutes -
KiDi drops another summer jam ‘Signature’ featuring Lasmid
30 minutes -
UAE accuses Iran of renewed drone and missile attacks
31 minutes -
Giuliani recovering from pneumonia and ‘now breathing on his own’
34 minutes -
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni settle lawsuit over It Ends With Us film
37 minutes -
Devastating fire destroys house in Okpoi Gonno
48 minutes -
Korle Bu doctors suspend strike action after management intervention
1 hour -
Diaspora African Forum commits to advancing Ghana’s diplomatic agendaÂ
1 hour -
BoG’s negative equity doesn’t mean it is policy insolvent – Attah Issah
1 hour -
Deliver or lose the deal – Roads Minister issues final warning to non-performing contractors
1 hour