Ebo Taylor, Ghanaian highlife and afrobeat musician, dies aged 90

Ebo Taylor, the Ghanaian guitarist, composer and bandleader who helped define highlife and influenced Afrobeat, has died at the age of 90, his family announced.

Ebo Taylor, a Ghanaian guitarist, composer and bandleader, has died at the age of 90, his family announced. He rose to prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s as highlife became Ghana's dominant popular music. Over a six-decade career he combined Ghanaian rhythms with jazz, funk, soul and early Afrobeat and worked with other African musicians during a formative period in London. Key details: - Born Deroy Taylor in Cape Coast in 1936, he first came to notice in the late 1950s and early 1960s. - He played with leading bands such as the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band and was known for his guitar style and arrangements. - In the early 1960s he studied and worked in London with other African musicians, including Fela Kuti, contributing to exchanges that shaped Afrobeat. - Later recordings such as Love & Death, Appia Kwa Bridge and Yen Ara found new international audiences, and some of his tracks have been sampled by artists including Usher and the Black Eyed Peas. Summary: Taylor is recognised as a foundational figure whose work helped bridge traditional Ghanaian sounds and newer popular styles and influenced musicians beyond the continent. The family announced his death; wider public reactions and details about memorial arrangements are undetermined at this time.