Veteran highlife musician Charles Kofi Amankwaa Mann, best known on stage as C. K. Mann, has died.
The legendary musician passed away 7 am on Tuesday, March 20 at the Ghapoha Hospital in the Western Region.
He was 83 years.
His son, Anthony Mann, confirmed the news to Hitz News @ 1 on Hitz FM.
C.K. Mann had been battling an unclosed illness for three years and his condition was said to have gotten worse last week.
Anthony Mann said although his dad was old, “the family is distraught and we are organising ourselves.”
While Ghana celebrates C.K. Mann for his musical exploits, he added that “I remember my dad as my dad…as a dad who loves his kids… I never saw him as a superstar.”
About C. K. Mann
C.K. Mann was born in 1936 in Cape Coast. He worked briefly as a seaman before joining Moses Kweku Oppong’s Kakaiku band.
His music career spanned over four decades and he won multiple awards for his songs. He was awarded the Grand Medal of Ghana by former President John Agyekum Kufuor in 2006.
After familiarizing himself with the Ghanaian music scene, he joined Ocean Strings and led the band until 1965.
When the band was disbanded, he joined a newly formed band in Takoradi, The Carousel 7.
He came to prominence in 1969 when he released his single ‘Edina Benya’. It was he who impressed on the band's owner, Anis Mubarak, to sign Paapa Yankson to the group.
Mr Mann added Western musical instruments to Osode, the traditional music of Ghanaian fishermen rhythms.
Mann had several hit songs, including ‘Asafo beesuon’, ‘Obaa yaa aye me bone’, ‘Kolomashie’, ‘Dofo bi akyerew me’, ‘Ankwasema dede’, ‘Okwan tsentsen awar’, ‘Aboa akonkoran’, ‘Beebi a odo wo’, ‘Tsie m'afotusem’, ‘Ebusua ape adze aye me’, ‘Yebeyi wo aye’, and ‘Do me ma mondo wo bi’.
His latest album, ‘Wope Nyeho’ was produced by West Gold Music Studio in Takoradi and released in 2013.
In 2006, he was awarded the Grand Medal of Ghana during the 2006 National Honours and Awards Ceremony in recognition of his contribution to Ghanaian music.
He was among the first recipients of this award after the ceremony was revamped in 2006.
With old age and ill health, by 2015 Mann had not performed publicly in several years.
He lived at Anaji, a suburb of Takoradi. The street on which his house is located has been renamed C. K. Mann Avenue.
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