Musician and political activist. Born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti in Abeokuta, British Nigeria. In 1958, he was sent to London to study medicine but decided on music instead, and formed the band Koola Lobitos. He is regarded as the pioneer of Afrobeat, an African music genre combining traditional Yoruba and Afro-Cuban music with funk and jazz. Returning to Nigeria he became an outspoken critic of his country's military rulers. He founded the Kalakuta Republic commune, which declared itself independent from military rule.
His brother announced that he had died from complications related to AIDS, although Kuti himself had been an AIDS denier.
His mother was , a Nigerian educator, political campaigner, suffragist, women's rights activist, and social-reformer. She led marches and protests of up to 10,000 women which brought down the local king in 1949.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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