Congolese songbird, Tshala Muana has died. She died at 2 am Saturday 10th December due to respiratory complications. Her husband Claude Mashala has just confirmed.
Élisabeth Tshala Muana Muidikay (13 May 1958 - 10 December 2022[), known professionally as Tshala Muana, was a singer and dancer from Congo-Kinshasa. Considered the "Queen of Mutuashi", a traditional dance music from her native Kasai region, she is often called "Mamu National”.
She started her artistic career as a dancer for the musical band Tsheke Tsheke Love in 1977 before turning to sing. She is famous for several songs such as "Karibu Yangu". She has toured widely overseas, won several awards on the national, continental, and global scene, and has recorded over 20 albums. Her music has appeared in the soundtrack of the popular 1987 Congolese musical film La Vie est Belle and Aya of Yop City.
Tshala Muana, was born on 13 May 1958, in Lubumbashi, then part of the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was the second of ten children of Amadeus Muidikayi, a soldier, and Alphonsine Bambiwa Tumba, a housewife.
In 1964, when Muana Muidikay was 6 years old, her father was murdered in Watsha by the Ulelist maquis during the Congo crisis. She was raised by her mother, who died in 2005.
Never married, her companion is her producer and companion, Claude Mashala.
In June 2020, she was rumored to have died but was instead hospitalized after having suffered a stroke.
In November 2020, Muana was arrested by the National Intelligence Agency (ANR), reportedly for her song "Ingratitude", which was widely circulated over social media. The lyrics center around a student who doesn't pass his exams, and whose teacher nonetheless allows him to pass on to the next grade. Once passed, the student turns against his teacher. The song was interpreted by many to be a veiled criticism of President Felix Tshisekedi, toward his former mentor and predecessor, President Joseph Kabila.
The singer is a public supporter of former President Joseph Kabila and his party, the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).
On December 10, 2022, Tshala Muana died in Kinshasa at the age of 64.