Babatunde Olatunji, a Nigerian drummer whose decades of groundbreaking work were rooted in his native culture and influenced countless musicians, has died. He was 75. Olatunji died Sunday morning at ...

Before there was world beat music, before there was Afropop or any of the other genres of African music marketed to Western audiences, there was Babatunde Olatunji. Olatunji's 1959 “Drums of Passion” ...

Babatunde Olatunji, the Nigerian drummer, bandleader and world beat pioneer who first brought authentic African music to the United States with his 1959 album, "Drums Of Passion," died Sunday from ...

Just how much of an influence was Babatunde Olatunji on Serge Gainsbourg? It’s a long story. Hailing from a village about 40 miles from Lagos, Nigeria, Michael Babatunde Olatunji grew up immersed in ...

Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji enjoyed a rich musical legacy during his lifetime. He is credited as being one of the first musicians to bring genuine African music to Western ears en masse, ...

2003 - Nigerian Drummer Bahatunde Olatunji, whose albums introduced African percussion to a wide U.S. audience, dies of diabetes in Salinas, Calif. He is 76. By Billboard Staff 2003 – Nigerian Drummer ...

Percussionist Babatunde Olatunji was born in a Yoruba-speaking fishing village in Nigeria in 1927 and succumbed to diabetes in Salinas, California in 2003. Why might Circle of Drums, a ...

itself. The life that bursts forth from its deep grooves is by no means coincidental. There are ancient spirits at work. The message being imparted is on a grand scale. This is the original big music.

Budding music star, Suoye Olaitan who is popularly known as “Holipace” has opened up about how late indigenous music legends, Yusuf Olatunji and Haruna Ishola inspired his music career. According to ...

Columbia Legacy's reissue of Drums Of Passion offers a chance for new listeners to fully appreciate the groundbreaking 1959 debut CD of the late African drummer Michael Babatunde Olatunji. Hailed as a ...

The Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji, who has died aged 75, played a key role in furthering the appreciation of African - and specifically Nigerian - music, polyrhythms and spirituality in jazz and ...