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 said.
Taylor died in the early hours of Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at Saltpond Hospital, according to a statement from the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), signed by its president Bessa Simons. His death came just a month after he turned 90 and a day after the launch of the Ebo Taylor Festival, an event created to preserve his legacy.
“Ghana and indeed the world has lost a great son,” MUSIGA said.
Taylor’s passing closes the chapter on a musician whose work became one of Ghana’s most valuable cultural exports, with a catalog that later evolved into global intellectual property through sampling, reissues and festival bookings that helped position West African music inside the modern creative economy.
Producer behind a generation of Ghanaian stars
After returning from London in the mid-1960s, Taylor became a central figure at Essiebons Records, where he served as arranger and producer and helped shape the sound of some of Ghana’s most commercially successful acts.
Working closely with label founder Dick Essilfie-Bondzie, Taylor was credited with building signature production styles for musicians including Pat Thomas and C.K. Mann, blending Ghanaian rhythms with funk, jazz and horn-driven arrangements that later became foundational to Afrobeat and modern highlife.
His work also helped establish Essiebons as a regional recording hub at a time when high-quality studio infrastructure was scarce across West Africa.
A global catalog that kept earning
While Taylor remained under-recognised locally for decades, his compositions gained fresh commercial life in the 2000s and 2010s as international artists and producers mined 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 Nni Skyiri Biara” for “Ring the Alarm.” The same song has also been sampled in works linked to Kelly Rowland and Jidenna, according to tributes published after his death.
Taylor’s tracks were also sampled by a range of hip-hop artists, including Rapsody, Curren$y, and Sadat X, 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 a wave of retrospective reissues that expanded his global reach and touring profile.
Still performing, still booked
Taylor performed at more than 150 world festivals during his career and had been scheduled for additional appearances later this year, according to a tribute by Ghanaian writer Ricky Anokye, who described him as “Saltpond’s light” and one of the country’s biggest music exports since the 1970s.
Taylor’s last major act was Ebo Taylor and Family Band, which included his children and helped sustain his live performance career into his late years.
Awards and recognition
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.
Even in his late 70s, Taylor remained active, releasing Appia Kwa Bridge, an album that mixed Fante lyrics and social commentary with his trademark arrangements.
A renewed debate over Ghana’s cultural archives
Taylor’s death has reignited debate about how Ghana documents and honours its cultural pioneers. In his tribute, Anokye urged the industry to preserve the stories and works of aging legends, naming musicians including Bob Pinodo, A.B. Crentsil, Papa Yankson, C.K. Mann, and Nana Ampadu.
Taylor, he wrote, was among the most sampled Ghanaian musicians, even as he remained “least known and celebrated by most of the industry.”
Taylor is survived by his family and a catalog that continues to circulate globally through streaming, reissues, and licensing.
