The music fraternity and fans have expressed sadness over the death of legendary instrumentalist and singer Brian Rusike, of the famous Pied Pipers.
He is famed for composing the popular Ruva Rangu, which dominated charts in the 80s and 90s.
Details of his death were still sketchy but reports were that he died at his Gunhill home on Tuesday.
Among those who mourned the musician was sungura blogger Ranga Mberi who took to Twitter to say: “Sad to hear that Brian Rusike has passed away. He is the man who wrote the famous song Ruva Rangu. It is arguably Zimbabwe’s best-known love song, and has been covered by many artistes over the years. RIP, and thank you.”
Rusike’s cousin, Kelly took to Facebook and Soundcloud saying: “This is a track I’ve always loved from day one … Written by my cousin, the late great Brian Rusike, I’ve always wanted to cover it. It’s from JI’s debut album The Rehearsal Room.”
“What can I say that hasn’t been said already … Words cannot suffice … my friend, my cousin, my brother… Taken away too soon… RIP Wadyegora … This song Ruva Rangu was written by Brian and I had the honour to do a rendition of it with my band Jazz Invitation (JI) …
It will always be one of my favourite tracks. Go well, Wadyegora!”
Rusike was a bass player with Stardust in the 70s, and went on to even play the keyboards as a member of the Pied Pipers.
Music producer Mono Mukundu announced the death of Rusike via his official Facebook page.
“He is the guy who wrote the classic song Ruva Rangu which was covered by so many artistes, my favourite being the Jazz Invitation version with Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana on vocals, he also wrote many other classics for Pied Pipers Band & also worked with one of my favourite Zim fusion bands Talking Drum.
“I never got the chance to work with him & it means I will never get the chance. I did this video clip 2016 celebrating his song writing prowess on this classic track. RIP,” Mukundu wrote. Daily News
