The legendary South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela has died aged 78 after a long battle with prostate cancer.
Bra Hugh, as he was affectionately known, began playing the horn at the age of 14 and rose to international fame for songs including Grazing in the Grass and Bring Him Back Home, calling for the release of Nelson Mandela.
His family said his memory would live on in his “the minds and memory of millions across six continents”.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress praised the father of South African jazz’s contribution to the struggle against apartheid. Many of his compositions were about the struggle for majority rule and full democratic rights in South Africa.
After going into exile in England and the United States in the 1960s, he collaborated with the American jazz star Harry Belafonte and used his music to spread awareness about the oppressive system of white-minority rule in South Africa.
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“Bra Hugh was a towering figure, both at home and around the world, an ardent advocate for freedom and a rebelliously defiant voice against oppression and injustice,” the party said in a statement.
“We send condolences to the Masekela family and the creative industry. We extend our sympathies to the people of South Africa on the loss of so legendary an icon. Indeed, a baobab tree has fallen. May his soul rest in peace.”
Mr Masekela confirmed in October last year that he had been battling prostate cancer since 2008 and urged other men to have regular medical check-ups. He had undergone several operations in the past year to deal with new tumours.
Mr Masekela was married briefly to the renowned singer Miriam Makeba, who died in 2008, and was close friends with celebrated musicians including Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charlie Mingus.
He played alongside Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix at the famed 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and toured Europe in 2012 with Paul Simon to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his classic album Graceland.
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His son, Sal, remembers being dragged around the jazz clubs of Manhattan by his father aged just five.
“He would steal the hearts and souls of innocents with a musical storytelling all his own,” Sal posted on his Facebook page.
“It was these moments and his choosing to take me around the globe any chance he got, that would come to shape my entire world view.”
His family issued a statement under the title: “No more pain”, describing him as a “loving father, brother, grandfather and friend” and adding: “Rest in peace beloved. You are forever in our hearts.”