Multiple news sources report that TONY ALLEN, the NIGERIAN born drummer and pioneer of Afrobeats has died in PARIS. The cause of death is not known yet. He was 80. He came to fame as Musical … more

Nigerian percussionist Tony Allen was best known for his work with Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti's band Africa 70 and went on to play with Damon Albarn and Flea.

The Nigerian musician was a restless creator who embraced the physicality of drumming and innovated until the end

• Tony Allen’s 10 best tracks
• News report: Afrobeat co-founder Tony Allen dies aged 79

Few musicians can claim to have invented a revolutionary rhythm, but then few are quite like the late Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen. Brian Eno called him “the greatest drummer that ever lived”, citing his style alongside James Brown’s funk breakbeat and the constant pulse of German band Neu! as the “three great beats of the 1970s”. Allen’s swirl of jazz, Yoruba and highlife was unlike anything the world had ever heard: a full-body polyrhythmic workout that would give most drummers sore wrists just thinking of it.

Allen came to prominence in Lagos alongside Fela Kuti. He started drumming in the late 50s while working at a radio station, looking to jazz icons such as Art Blakey and Max Roach for inspiration as he taught himself to play. In 1964 he met Kuti and they spent the next half-decade fine-tuning their fusion of west African party music and American funk and jazz, in the bands Koola Lobitos and, by 1969, Africa ’70. While Kuti, who died in 1997, is more well-known than his musical soulmate, he said that “without Tony Allen there would be no Afrobeat”.

Angélique Kidjo, Jeff Mills, Sébastien Tellier and more remember the late drummer: his humility, his brilliance, and his awesome sportswear

Pioneering Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen has died at the age of 79.

Gilles Peterson and Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers pay tribute to the Fela Kuti collaborator, described by Brian Eno as ‘perhaps the greatest drummer who ever lived’

The Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, who is credited with creating Afrobeat along with his old bandmate Fela Kuti, died suddenly at the age of 79 in Paris on Thursday, his manager said. “We don’t know the exact cause of death,” Eric Trosset said, adding it was not linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

“He was in great shape,” said Trosset. “It was quite sudden. I spoke to him at 1pm then two hours later he was sick and taken to Pompidou hospital, where he died.”

Related: Tony Allen: Afrobeat’s master on Hugh Masekela, Damon Albarn and friction with Fela Kuti

The epic Tony Allen, the greatest drummer on earth has left us. What a wildman with a massive, kind and free heart and the deepest one-of-a-kind groove. Fela Kuti did not invent afrobeat, Fela and Tony birthed it… https://t.co/qXqMAP7QzT

RIP TONY ALLEN. THE GOAT AMONGST GOATS. DO YOUR RESEARCH. LEGENDS NEVER DIE. THE INVENTOR OF RHYTHM #Afrobeat

Merci Tony Allen....https://t.co/Oizisc8wWd

Masterful drummer and co-creator of Afrobeat, the fusion of funk, jazz and African styles that he pioneered with Fela Kuti

On 12 and 13 March there were two concerts in the Church of Sound series at St James the Great Church in Clapton, east London. They were staged in the round, with both the audience and the small band of brass, keyboards and guitar circled around the star player, arguably the finest drummer on the planet.

As ever, Tony Allen looked cool and relaxed, sporting a hat and dark glasses, sitting upright with the rest of his body hardly moving as his hands and feet beat out the thrilling, complex rhythms, or “patterns” as he called them. The music came from his latest album, Rejoice, recorded with his friend Hugh Masekela, and these were to be his last shows.

Legendary Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, who created afrobeat along with his old bandmate Fela Kuti, died suddenly at the age of 79 in Paris on Thursday, his manager told AFP.