Legendary Ghanaian guitarist, composer and producer Ebo Taylor, one of Africa’s most influential architects of highlife and Afro-funk, has died at the age of 90, Ghana’s musicians’ union announced on Sunday.
Taylor died in the early hours of Saturday, February 7, 2026, at Saltpond Hospital in the Central Region, according to a statement from the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), signed by President Bessa Simons.
“Ghana and indeed the world has lost a great son,” MUSIGA stated, adding that Uncle Ebo Taylor should rest in perfect peace.
His death came exactly one month after he turned 90 on January 6, 2026, and one day after the launch of EboFest, an event created to preserve his legacy. The soft launch took place on Friday, February 6, 2026, at Alliance Française in Accra, featuring live performances and cultural tributes.
Taylor’s son, Kweku Taylor, announced the death in a Facebook post on Sunday morning, February 8, 2026, stating that the world has lost a giant and colossus of African music who left behind an unmatched artistry legacy.
Born Deroy Taylor on January 6, 1936, in Cape Coast, he became one of Ghana’s most influential guitarists, composers, bandleaders and producers over a six decade career that helped shape highlife and Afrobeat music in Ghana and beyond.
Taylor rose to prominence in the late 1950s with influential bands including the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band. In 1962, he took his Black Star Highlife Band to London, where he collaborated with Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and other African musicians before returning to Ghana.
After returning from London in the mid 1960s, Taylor became a central figure at Essiebons Records, where he served as in-house guitarist, arranger and producer. Working closely with label founder Dick Essilfie-Bondzie, Taylor crafted recordings for major Ghanaian artists including Pat Thomas and C.K. Mann, blending Ghanaian rhythms with funk, jazz and horn driven arrangements.
His work helped establish Essiebons as a regional recording hub at a time when high quality studio infrastructure was scarce across West Africa.
While Taylor remained under recognized locally for decades, his compositions gained fresh commercial life in the 2000s and 2010s as international artists and producers sampled his 1970s recordings.
R&B singer Usher sampled Taylor’s song Heaven for She Don’t Know featuring Ludacris, while Black Eyed Peas sampled Odofo Nyi Akyiri Biara for Ring the Alarm. The same song has been sampled in works linked to Kelly Rowland and Jidenna.
Taylor’s tracks were also sampled by hip hop artists including Rapsody, Curren$y, Sadat X and Vic Mensa, underlining his cross genre relevance and the enduring value of his catalog.
In 2008, a partnership with the Berlin based Afrobeat Academy led to the release of Love and Death, his first internationally distributed album, followed by retrospective reissues that expanded his global reach and touring profile.
Strut Records issued the retrospective Life Stories: Highlife & Afrobeat Classics 1973 to 1980 in spring 2011. In 2012, Appia Kwa Bridge was released, showing that at 77 years old, Taylor remained creative, mixing traditional Fante songs and chants with children’s rhymes and personal stories into his vision of highlife.
Taylor performed at more than 150 world festivals during his career and had been scheduled for additional appearances later this year. He performed at the 2015 edition of the annual Stanbic Jazz Festival along with Earl Klugh and Ackah Blay.
His last major ensemble was Ebo Taylor and Family Band, which included his children and helped sustain his live performance career into his late years. In 2025, he released the Ebo Taylor JID022 album as part of the Jazz Is Dead series.
Taylor received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards and was named Music Legend of the Year at the 2019 Ghana Business Awards, recognition that reflected his influence not only as an artist but as a creator whose work became a long term commercial asset.
Dr. Amos Anyimadu, a longtime Taylor consultant, described him as guitar virtuoso, highlife originator, and Afrobeat significant, noting that Taylor was unique and did things his own way including the timing of his ascension.
The organisers of EboFest described Taylor as a musical titan, cultural architect, and one of Africa’s greatest gifts to the world in a statement. They noted that he passed away peacefully shortly after the birthday celebrations and the launch of EboFest.
Tributes have poured in from across Ghana and the international music community, with many crediting him with raising the profile of West African music globally.
As plans continue for the main EboFest in Saltpond later this year, organisers and fans now view the festival not only as a cultural celebration but also as a memorial to a musician whose rhythms and melodies helped put Ghanaian music on the world stage.
Taylor is survived by his family and a catalog that continues to circulate globally through streaming, reissues, and licensing.
