8 Things You Might Not Know About Reggae Star Majek Fashek

Nigerian singer-songwriter, guitarist and reggae legend, Majek Fashek, was on Tuesday morning pronounced dead at the age of 71.

AllNews reports that his manager Omenka Uzoma, confirmed his death on the late singer’s official Instagram handle.

He is best known in his home country for the 1988 album Prisoner of Conscience, which included the multiple award-winning single "Send Down the Rain".

Here are the few things you may probably not know about the reggae star prior to his death.

1. Fashek played a supporting role in the Nollywood blockbuster movie “Mark of the Beast“, produced in 2000.
2. In 2016, he performed a comedy show before a large audience that had more than ten thousand people in attendance in Lagos, Nigeria.
3. Aside from his struggle with drug addiction, he had other health conditions that required his hospitalization on several occasions. Recall that he was rumoured to be dead in 2019.
4. In 1989 his most popular song "Send Down the Rain" won him six awards from Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for "Song of the Year", "Album of the Year", and "Reggae Artist of the Year" among others.
5. Fashek was one of the original Nigerian artists to be drawn to the music of the Caribbean, specifically reggae,
6. The late singer worked with various international music stars like Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Tracy Chapman, Snoop Dogg among others.
7. Fashek ventured into music as far back as when his parents separated and he remained in Benin City with his mum. Shortly after, he joined the choir in his church, where he learned how to play guitar and trumpet as well as composing songs for the choir. His debut solo album ‘Prisoner of conscience’ released in 1988 amassed over 200,000 copies in Nigeria.
8. Fashek's musical influences include Bob Marley whom he resembles vocally and afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti.