Tributes are pouring in following the devastating news.
Kanya King, the founder of the Mobo Awards, has passed away at the age of 57 following “a courageous and characteristically determined battle with colon cancer”. The Mobo organisation confirmed the sad news today, stating Kanya died on Wednesday afternoon.
The organisation’s statement read: “The music world has lost one of its most fearless champions. What Kanya created was never simply an awards ceremony. It was an act of cultural justice. Mobo did not just celebrate Black music; it legitimised it, amplified it, and demonstrated its commercial and creative power to a world that had too often chosen not to see it.”
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The music legend was born in Kilburn, north London to a Ghanian father and Irish mother and was working as a television researcher when she came up with the idea to launch an awards ceremony to celebrate black British musicians.
Kanya even remortaged her home to raise the funds for the inaugral Mobo Awards which were held back in 1996. As the years went on, the awards grew larger and larger, with acclaimed stars such as Olivia Dean, Dave and Stormzy being celebrated in recent times.
