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Source of Fadhili William biography:
http://eastafricanmusic.com/fadhili.htm

Author: Doug Paterson

One of Kenya's pop music legends, Fadhili William, passed away on February 11th 2001in Nairobi at the (reported) age of 62. His circa 1963 recording, Malaika (Angel), remains the definitive version of this now world-famous song. Although Fadhili's claim of authorship of the song is disputed among several Kenyans and Tanzanians, there is no argument that it is one of the best known songs throughout Africa. Along with Guantanamera, Malaika is in the warm-up repertoire of nearly every hotel band on the continent.

Miriam Makeba had a lot to do with spreading Malaika beyond the bounds of East Africa. Her performances of the song brought it to the attention of such famous names as Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte, pop groups such as Boney M, and scores of African artists including Angelique Kidjo and the Mahotella Queens. It's even covered by Djeli Moussa Diawara and Bob Brozman on their recent Ocean Blues CD.Fadhili William, however, was far more than a one hit wonder. He was a journeyman musician whose career spanned nearly a half-century, with some 200 compositions to his credit. He's been described as a guitarist's guitarist but, also, as one of the Kenyan musicians who brought about the downfall of the once vibrant acoustic scene. On this, Kenyan guitarist Aziz Salim lamented, "We had a traditional acoustic Kenyan music, and it lasted until people like Fadhili William came along with all this jazzy Jambo Boys stuff. That's when the whole thing started diverting (from Stapleton and May's African All-Stars, page 236)." Indeed, it did.

Following a five-year stint at Phonogram, Fadhili was invited to the United States as part of a government delegation. He stayed about a year before returning to East Africa. By the mid-eighties, he was performing in international-class hotels in Kenya and Tanzania. But, apparently frustrated by his inability to make any great headway in either the local or international scenes from East Africa, Fadhili returned to the US in 1987 to pursue his musical ambitions. Little is on record for this period in Fadhili William's life. He settled in the New York / New Jersey area where he took a second wife, also from Kenya. Their daughter, Malaika, now seven years old, lives in Kenya. While in the United States, Fadhili was preparing some studio recordings but even in this, he was thwarted. All his work was lost in a studio fire and nothing was ever released.One of the highlights of his stay in the US must have been Fadhili's participation in the 1997 tour of Kenyan-based musicians, Samba Mapangala performing with John Ngereza and Les Wanyika. Fadhili was invited to perform on their Boston date, June 27th. WMBR Radio's African music host, Ethan Bloomberg, described it as a very successful appearance saying Fadhili "delighted the crowd with his renditions of Taxi Driver, Malaika, and other familiar hits." Bloomberg was particularly struck by "his warmth, showmanship, and stage presence." Finally, he also notes that Fadhili "wore solid color suits (and) smoked Dunhills - heavily!"

Later that same year, Fadhili returned to Kenya with his daughter. He once again started performing in hotels and "Golden Oldies Nite" concerts in Nairobi to the backing of such groups as Them Mushrooms and the Pressman Band. Towards the end of 2000, Fadhili's health began to deteriorate requiring three weeks in intensive hospital care for pneumonia in November. Prior to that, he had been performing on Saturday nights at Nairobi's Panafric Hotel. By mid-January this year, Fadhili's condition worsened again and he was once more admitted for hospital care. He died three weeks later, newspaper accounts citing pneumonia as the cause of death. Fadhili William Mdawida leaves behind wives in Nairobi and New Jersey, 8 children and 9 grandchildren. He was buried according to Islamic rites in Kariokor Muslim Cemetery, Nairobi.

It was a bitter sweet career for the man who enjoyed immense popularity in Kenya but spent much of his life fighting for recognition and royalties (for Malaika) from the international community. He leaves a lasting imprint in Kenya's musical past and he leaves the world, Malaika.