William Onyeabor, the revolutionary funk pioneer, has passed away, peacefully in his sleep at 70 years old.
Onyeabor died on the 16th of January following a brief illness as explained by Luaka Bop (David Byrne‘s record label company) in their statement regarding his passing. They also described William as an “extraordinary artist, businessman and visionary” who composed and released 9 groundbreaking electro-funk albums from 1977-1985.
The funk pioneer, born in 1946, developed and self-released released nine innovative synth-funk albums (which included his most famous songs: ‘Fantastic Man’ and ‘Atomic Bomb’) during 1997-1985, which were recorded, pressed and printed at his personal pressing plant, Wilfilms Limited, in Southeast Nigeria.
Although Onyearbor left the music scene back in the 80’s to focus on his business endeavors, while still remaining an iconic figure for Nigerian people, his career was reignited when Luaka Bop found him and later convinced him to license his music for a reissue in 2013 releasing the immense success: “Who is William Onyeabor.” Then in 2014, the documentary “Fantastic Man” was released, which entailed and discussed the stories behind his hit song “Atomic Bomb” and “Who is William Onyeabor.”
Onyeabor was a man of privacy who denied most interview requests regarding the film or his music and remained committed to his religion after being born again in a subsequent life. He will be missed immensely by his family and fans but the legacy of his music will live on forever.
