It is undoubtedly one of the first African and even world celebrities to be swept away by COVID -19. The Congolese (Brazzaville), Aurlus Mabélé, creator of the musical genre Soukouss, died Thursday in France as a result of the pandemic.

The sad news was announced by her daughter Liza Monet. “My dad died of coronavirus this morning. Thank you for honoring his memory. It is a great legend of the Soukous that the Congolese people lose today. I am inconsolable and collapsed. My dad that I love you so much… Aurlus Mabélé, ” wrote the French rapper on Instagram.

And the first celebrity of showbiz to pay tribute to him is Claudy Siar, producer of Tropical Colors, one of RFI’s flagship programs . “Aurlus Mabélé carried away by the coronavirus… He is an immense artist who has just left us. He was one of the kings of Soukouss! Honor and respect! May the earth be light to you Great … ”,.

What Aurlus Mabélé by his real name Aurélien Miatsonama represents is the contribution to the constitution of the world heritage of music.

In the 1970s and 1980s, when rumba imposed its law on the whole of Africa, the “Loketo” orchestra was created in 1986. Thanks to this group made up of Aurlus Mabélé, his compatriot, Mav Cacharel and Diblo Dibala, Congolese from Kinshasa, the public discovers the Soukouss.

Derived from rumba, the Soukouss will try to distinguish itself by “a long instrumental performance with an improvised performance of guitar”, according to wikipedia.

From Dakar to Dar-es-Salam, from Tunis to Cape Town via Libreville, Yaoundé, Abidjan, Luanda, all of Africa will dance with gusto to the rhythms of the Soukous while listening to songs like Loketo show, Africa Mousso , La Femme ivoirienne, Embargo, Betty, Asta De, Evelyne and Isabelle. Not without cracking many music lovers overseas.

So much so that in 25 years of career, Aurlus Mabélé will have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. This has led observers to nickname him “King of the Soukouss”.

Born in 1953 in Brazzaville, he was based in France where he has been fighting a throat tumor and the effects of a stroke since 2015.