Remi Kabaka: Nigeria’s Unsung Rock Music Hero Goes Home at 80

Tony Amadi

Rock music percussionist of international repute and Nigeria’s unsung hero Remi Kabaka has passed on at 80 with details of his death still shrouded in uncertainty. He died in Los Angeles where he lived his final days on earth on December 8, 2025. He was the most influential rock musician in Nigeria history but he never flaunted the roles he played to make Nigerian music great.

Lagos banker and close friend, Tony Nnacheta first alerted me on WhatsApp early on December 11 2025 at my London Christmas hideaway in the East End before former BLO drummer Laolu Akins confirmed the story before I could write this piece.

My last contact with Remi Kabaka was in 1970, shortly after the Nigeria civil war when the foundations of Afrorock were taking place in Lagos. Fela Ransome Kuti long before he transformed to Fela Anikulapo Kuti was in America and Osibisa was scheduled to barnstorm Lagos for their celebrated African debut at Onikan stadium in Lagos.

So you can actually say that Remi was the first Nigerian musician to be involved with rock music exactly at its formative stages when pop was the in thing. Remi Kabaka opened the way for the talking drum into rock when the likes of Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, Ginger Baker, the drummer of the rock trio, Cream which included Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce were excited to fuse the talking drum into music.

Remi Kabaka played a role in Ginger Baker’s interest in Africa drumming and visited Nigeria to join Ginger’s Lagos expedition in the early seventies when the Cream drummer drove across the Sahara desert from London to Lagos in a lone desert crossing on a Range Rover, the first ever Range to enter Nigeria. Ginger Baker thus became the first ever man to drive a Range Rover across the desert to Nigeria, a feat yet to be matched.

The late British drummer was told to contact a music journalist (myself) in Lagos called Tony Amadi and he will fix everything on arrival. Ginger also became the first major British rock musician to visit Lagos followed by the Beatles Paul McCartney and both corroborated in a studio project in Ikeja, Lagos in the early seventies.

I lodged Ginger at Ikoyi Hotel which was the top Lagos hotel at the time and hooked him up with musicians he knew such as Fela Ransome Kuti, Remi Kabaka with whom he jammed in music sessions in Lagos clubs with Fela and BLO (Berkley Jones, Laolu Akins and Mike Odumosu) who blew the mind of Lagos pop fans at the Osibisa concert debut.

Kabaka was central figure at the AfroSpot in Yaba, Bobby Benson’s Caban Bamboo and the trendy new joint on the Island near the UTC. The joint was first known as Martini-ago-go and later became Batakoto when the influences of Remi Kabaka and Ginger Baker became overwhelming, coupled with the funk-influenced music that was pouring out of the venue.

The then record executive of TYC Ltd, Dean Disi who produced juju King Sunny Ade for the label told me how Remi Kabaka influenced African drumming in those early days of rock music in Nigeria. Little is known of Remi Kabaka’s discography in Nigeria but on the course of the research for this story I gathered some fascinating stuff which gave me some joy and even moved my feet amid the pulsating and fabulous African tribal drumming for which Aderemi Kabaka was a master.

For instance, there was the ‘THE THIRD WORLD label Aiye-Keta’ 1973 UK 5-track vinyl LP on the black Island label with pink ‘i’ logo, featuring Steve Winwood, Remi Kabaka & Abdul Lasisi Amao. Kabaka did a lot of collaborations with Steve Winwood who is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist known for his work in bands like The Spencer Davis Group and Traffic.

The Aiye Keta single is probably the strongest single in Africa terms but there were probably seven albums that should be credited to the Ghanaian born Nigerian musician, Remi Kabaka. A source confirmed that “Remi Kabaka is a Ghanaian-born Nigerian drummer, percussionist, and keyboardist renowned for pioneering Afro-rock and blended African rhythms with Western musical styles during the 1960s and 1970s.

“Born in Ghana to Nigerian parents, Kabaka relocated to London in the early 1960s, where he immersed himself in the city’s vibrant expat music scene, performing at venues like Club Afrique in Soho and established himself as a master of talking drums. His early career featured high-profile collaborations, including work with Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Steve Winwood, and Paul McCartney and Wings on the track “Bluebird” from the 1973 album ‘Band on the Run’.

Kabaka also contributed to sessions with Hugh Masekela, John Martyn, and Paul Simon’s 1990 album The Rhythm of the Saints, while maintaining ties to African music through associations with figures like Femi Kuti, whom he influenced as a flat mate in London, and The Wailers’ musicians such as Junior Kerr.

“Throughout his prolific career, Kabaka released several solo albums that showcased his innovative sound, including the 1976 cult classic Son of Africa—reissued in 2023 by BBE Music—and the 1980 effort Roots Funkadelia, reissued internationally in 2024, both highlighting his fusion of funk, rock, and traditional African elements.

“He extended his influence into film scores and major label productions, earning recognition as a key figure in Anglo-African music cross-pollination, with connections to icons like Jimi Hendrix. Kabaka’s legacy endures through his son, Remi Kabaka Jr., a producer, percussionist, and voice actor best known for voicing the character Russel Hobbs in the virtual band Gorellaz”.

Remi Kabaka’s hit song ‘Son of Africa’ released in the early days of Afrobeat music is probably where he laid the principles of the phenomenon that Fela carried on to institutionalize the basics of the music that is now known as Afrobeat. The record should he released for millions to acquaint themselves with the beginnings of the Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey era. The horns were sharp, drums thunderous and the vocals forcefully delivered, so that Africa music was given its strong elements needed to show the world the power of black music.

The ADEREMI KABAKA album that had the insignia of Afrobeat was a five track album with the titles: New Afrobeat, Togetherness, Festival, Ika Ope and Funky Lagos. Kabaka himself appropriately titled it the ROOTS FUNKADELIA and it is now left for his son Remi Kabaka Jnr, a music producer in his own right for the history of Afrobeat to be reset out and documented to showcase his father’s contributions.

The death of Aderemi Kabaka is a big blow to the music of Africa for this was the man who single handedly ensured that the world gave its due respects to the wonder that is the music of Africa and that it took its place in history of world music using British rock aristocrats to emphasize its place in rock music history.

Remi Kabaka Jnr. must ensure that the accomplishments of his great father is not swept aside and the start of making this point is to make sure the burial of Remi Kabaka takes place in Nigeria. Not in the United Kingdom or the United States of America.

Amadi is a veteran journalist, author, culture and social critic.