Nigerian gospel singer Kefee Obareki Don-Momoh has reportedly died in a hospital in the US.
Known to her fans as the “Branama Queen”, Kefee Obareki Don-Momoh is believed to have become ill on a flight to the US about two weeks ago and fallen into a coma.
Kefee Obareki Don-Momoh’s best-known hits are Branama and Kokoroko
The singer, who was reportedly pregnant, fell into a coma while on a flight to Chicago, where she was working, making videos amongst other things. The plane was forced make an emergency landing and she was rushed into the Intensive Care Unit of an hospital in Los Angeles.
Nigerian Entertainment Today published a statement from Kefee Obareki Don-Momoh’s UK manager saying she had died of lung failure.
Married to DJ Teddy Don-Momoh, the star’s best-known hits are Branama and Kokoroko.
Kefee Obareki Don-Momoh’s music career reportedly began at the age of 8 when she sang in a church choir.
Soul singer Fontella Bass, best known for the hit single Rescue Me, has died of complications following a heart attack at the age of 72.
Fontella Bass had been in poor health for much of the past seven years.
Rescue Me reached the top of the US R&B chart in 1965 and is one of the best known soul songs. It has been covered by many artists.
The singer had a powerful voice and a background steeped in music.
Her mother was gospel singer Martha Bass, one of the Clara Ward Singers and Fontella Bass began performing at a young age, singing in her church’s choir at the age of six.
Like many of her generation, Fontella Bass graduated to soul and R&B in the 60s, signing to Chess Records.
Soul singer Fontella Bass, best known for the hit single Rescue Me, has died of complications following a heart attack at the age of 72
Fontella Bass first found success in a duet with Bobby McClure on Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing and You’ll Miss Me (When I’m Gone).
She co-wrote Rescue Me, a song her daughter Neuka Mitchell said “held a special place in her heart”.
But it took years of legal battles for her to receive full royalty rights to the song. A final settlement was reached more than 20 years after the song was first released.
Neuka Mitchell said her mother was an outgoing person.
“She had a very big personality. Any room she entered, she just lit the room up, whether she was on stage or just going out to eat.”
Fontella Bass was married to the great jazz trumpeter, Lester Bowie, who was her musical director.
She died in the city where she was born, St Louis, Missouri.
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Whitney Houston’s friend, gospel singer BeBe Winans, who performed at her funeral in February, will release The Whitney I Knew on July 31, with the tome including never-previously seen photographs of the pop superstar.
Whitney Houston, who had a history of substance abuse problems, was found dead in the bath of her Beverly Hills hotel room in February and BeBe Winans has promised to use the book to reveal “heart-breaking accounts that led to her ultimate defeat”.
It was recently confirmed that Cissy Houston will release a book about her daughter next February.
Whitney Houston’s friend, gospel singer BeBe Winans, who performed at her funeral in February, will release The Whitney I Knew on July 31
Cissy Houston, 78, has signed a multi-million dollar deal to write with “candor, honesty and respect” about Whitney, who died as a result of accidental drowning in her bath and effects of heart disease and cocaine use on February 11.
Whitney Houston’s mother said: “When I lost my daughter Nippy [Whitney Houston’s nickname], the world lost one of the most beautiful voices and an extraordinarily beautiful and charitable woman.
“In sharing our story in this book, I hope to give her fans something to treasure, the way we all treasured Whitney. We are still receiving thousands of letters each day from her fans, and I hope reading this book will provide a deeper understanding into my daughter’s true story.”
Whitney Houston famously spiraled into drug addiction alongside her husband Bobby Brown – the father of her 19-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina – in the 90s and Cissy will talk about the issues which this caused in her book.
David Peaston, R&B and gospel singer, best known for the tracks Two Wrongs (Don’t Make it Right) and Can I?, has died at 54.
David Peaston’s niece Neuka Mitchell, said the star passed away on Wednesday from complications of diabetes.
The singer, who had a string of hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s, came from a family of successful singers.
David Peaston’s mother Martha Bass sang with the Clara Ward Singers and sister Fontella Bass had a top-10 song in 1965.
The musician kick started his career after winning several competitions on the Showtime at the Apollo TV show in the 80’s.
David Peaston’s niece Neuka Mitchell, said the star passed away on Wednesday from complications of diabetes
Two Wrongs was his highest charting single, reaching number three in 1989.
In 1990, David Peaston beat off competition from the likes of Soul II Soul to win a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist.
In 2006, after a period of ill health caused by his illness – which led to both his legs being amputated, he returned to music with the album, Song Book: Songs of Soul & Inspiration.
David Peaston is survived by his wife and two sons.
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