Highlife Legend Dr. K. Gyasi Dies At 90

The death is reported of Highlife musician Dr. K. Gyasi, of Noble Kings fame. Family sources say he died on December 21 at around 7:30 am. He was 90. The veteran musician has been battling with Prostate Cancer for some time now, and it is believed that caused his death. A week�s celebration will be held on Friday December 28 in his honour, during which plans for a fitting funeral and burial ceremony, will be made public. A talented musician in his time, K Gyasi was one of the early pioneers of highlife music, contributing immensely to the genre. He was one of few acts, who made the guitar instrument popular between the 1950s to 1970s. In the mid sixties, he experimented mostly with pop Highlife, breaking several records with soft-selling EPs. Kay, as he is mostly referred to, Dr. K. Gyasi toured the United Kingdom and Europe in the summer of 1975, putting Ghana on the map, and enhancing the popularity of Highlife music. He was associated with what came to be known as Sikyi Highlife, following in the footsteps of the likes of Jerry Hanson of the Ramblers International Band, who took up Classical Highlife and made it extremely popular. In 2004, during Ghana�s 47th Independence Anniversary, Gyasi together with the likes of King Onyina, Agya Koo Nimo, Dr K Gyasi, Jerry Hanson, Alhaji Fuseini Pia, Togbe Daniel Ahegbebu and Efua Dorkenoo were recognized under the Living Legend series scheme instituted by the National Theatre of Ghana and Musicians Association of Ghana (MUSIGA).