By Diaspora Insurance News
A GOFUNDME appeal has been launched to raise some £8,000 for the repatriation of Bhundu Boys founding member Rise Kagona who died in Scotland last Saturday aged 62.
Renowned guitarist Kagona was the only remaining member of the mega-successful Zimbabwean band.
A post on the group’s Facebook page read; “Rise had a cough that wouldn’t go away for several months, and he also started noticing shortness of breath.
“These were warning signs of very high blood pressure and a damaged heart. He was in hospital for a week, and returned home on the 12th feeling a little better.
“However, worried that he hadn’t responded to us on Saturday, I visited, and found him dead, most likely by a sudden heart attack.”
Andy Cooke who is organising the fundraiser (click here to donate) said; “Rise passed away suddenly in Edinburgh on 14th September at home, after being treated for high blood pressure in a hospital.
“He touched so many people while staying here with us in Scotland through his songs, but it was always his wish to return home.
“Let’s help Rise finally get home to be buried, so that his children can say goodbye to their wonderful dad.
“This fundraiser is to help cover the costs of Rise’s repatriation – we had re-assured his family that his community of friends in the UK would cover these costs, as a last loving show of appreciation of Rise and his achievements in music.”
Arguably the most successful boy band to emerge from Zimbabwe, the Bhundu Boys topped the local charts countless times in the 1980s and into the 1990s.
They would go on to enjoy fantastic international success, becoming the first African band to tour the world extensively and establish themselves in the United Kingdom.
They even opened for Madonna at one point and were signed to Warner Bros. Records.
The amazing success was however, also accompanied by tragedy and misfortune as they were exploited by poor management while members became some of the first public figures to contract and die of HIV/AIDs.
The group split up in 1994 and Kagona would, from his Edinburgh base, later try to revive the band but it never regained the old magic and success.
Colleagues said Kagona would be missed by many.
“He will be missed by so, so many people – his former Bhundu Boy band members Washington Kavhai, Kenny Chitsvatsva, Kuda Matimba, and Gordin ‘Chamboko’ Mapika, the many musicians here in the UK who had the joy of learning from him and performing with him, his large network of friends in the community here who helped him feel at home during his long stay here, and of course millions of people worldwide who saw or listened to Rise sing his songs with the Bhundu Boys and with musicians here.”
