Fela Kuti’s 1997 Funeral Drew an Estimated Million Mourners in Lagos
When Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti died in August 1997, his funeral brought extraordinary crowds onto the streets of Lagos. An estimated 150,000 people paid their respects when his body lay in state at Tafawa Balewa Square on August 11. Bands performed his music as mourners filed past his glass coffin. His coffin was then taken in a procession to the Afrika Shrine. Fela’s son, musician Femi Kuti, later recalled that traffic and work stopped as people lined the route to honour his father. Accounts from the family and people close to Fela put the procession’s crowd at more than a million. After a private family ceremony at the Shrine, Fela was buried at his home in Kalakuta, Ikeja, on August 12. His farewell reflected the lasting influence of music that challenged corruption, military rule and social injustice.
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