Lucie Eyenga

Lucie Eyenga
Lucie Eyenga in 1957
Background information
Born	c. 1934 Coquelathville (now Mbandaka), Belgian Congo (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Origin	Congolese
Died	12 December 1987(1987-12-12) (aged 52–53) Kinshasa, Zaire (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Genres	African rumba
Occupations	Singer guitarist songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar vocals
Years active	1950s–1987

Lucie Eyenga was a vocalist, and one of the early pioneers of African rumba. She was born in Bandaka (then Coquelathville) in the Belgian Congo.

She was discovered in 1954 by virtuoso guitarist Zacharie Elenga "Jhimmy", and was signed to the Opika label. At Opika, she proved herself to be an improvisational and expressive singer, as well as an accomplished musical arranger. Her songs placed an emphasis on vocal harmonies, and hits such as "Ohé Suka ya Rhumba" and "Mokili Makalamba" endeared her to a generation. She was soon noticed by Joseph Kabasélé, and her reputation continued to grow as a member of the orchestra African Jazz between 1954 and 1956. Towards the end of the 1950s with the close of the Opika label, Eyenga transitioned to the Esengo label as did many colleagues of the time. Her career continued to reach new heights between 1957 and 1958 with the orchestra Rock-A-Mambo where she contributed to such hits as "Brigitte", "Mabe Na Yo Moko", "Dit Moninga", "Nasepeli Mingi", and "Zozo Moke". Following the closing of Editions Esengo and the breakup of Rock-a-Mambo, in 1960 her career took a brief hiatus until she reappeared in Brazzaville with the orchestra Negro Band where she recorded the memorable songs "Adoula" and "Georgette". In 1983 she again resurfaced to play with Nico Kasanda's l'African Fiesta Sukisa.

The Congolese music scene lost one of its greatest female voices of all time on 12 December 1987, when Lucie Eyenga died in Kinshasa.