Ebo Taylor, a Ghanaian highlife music pioneer, and Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist, died and was sentenced to prison, respectively, while Brad Arnold, the lead singer of the rock band 3 Doors Down, also passed away. Taylor died at the age of 90, Lai received a 20-year prison sentence, and Arnold was 47.
Taylor, a definitive force behind the highlife genre, passed away on Sunday, a month after his 90th birthday and a day after the launch of an Ebo Taylor music festival, according to his son Kweku Taylor (The Guardian). Taylor was considered a giant and a colossus of African music. He was also called the greatest rhythm guitarist in history.
In Hong Kong, Jimmy Lai, a fierce critic of Beijing, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday under a China-imposed national security law (Fortune, NPR Politics). The 78-year-old was convicted in December of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. Lai smiled and waved at his supporters when he arrived for the sentence (Fortune).
Brad Arnold, the lead singer of 3 Doors Down, died Saturday after a battle with Stage 4 kidney cancer (Fortune). The band formed in Mississippi in 1995 and received a Grammy nomination for their breakout hit "Kryptonite" four years later. Arnold wrote the song when he was 15 years old, according to the band statement. The band said Arnold helped redefine mainstream rock music.
In other news, Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to its biggest electoral victory in its 71-year history, fueling her ambitions to pursue a political agenda that she herself says could "split public opinion" (NPR Politics).
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