Dear Tingasiga; Franco. A single word that needs no elaboration. In the Africa of my youth and young adulthood, Franco was the name of only one man. Mention of the name ignited the stored sounds of ...

Prologue: a mighty sound: Mobutu and the musicians, 1997 -- Difficult delivery: Bowane, Leopold II, Stanley, Brazza, Kamba, Feruzi, and Wendo, 1946 and before -- Why don't you make a record? Olympia, ...

Yves Emongo was very clear. No one, he told this writer, can wear the OK Jazz brand better than Franco did. The son of L’Okanga La Ndju Pene Luambo Makiadi, better known simply as Franco, was trying ...

During his 35 year recording career, the Congolese guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader Franco released several hundred singles and around 150 albums. Where does the anthologist begin, and ...

Franco, who was a well-known Mobutu stooge, had recorded Candidat na biso Mobutu (Mobutu is our candidate) for the previous year's uncontested presidential election, but rumours had it that the two ...

Every facet of the life of the late Congolese and African music icon Luambo Makiadi, aka Franco, will be in the spotlight of special content on BBC Swahili marking the 20th anniversary of the artist's ...

A huge bronze statue of a smiling Franco Luambo Makiadi, a guitar strapped to his burly self, towers above Kinshasa; a fitting tribute to arguably the most significant cultural icons that Africa has ...

In October, the world marked 30 years since the death of Africa’s most famous singer, Franco Luambo Makiadi. That is a coveted position for any living Kenyan artiste. Franco’s fame went beyond his ...