11 Facts About Majek Fashek

Majekodunmi Fasheke, known professionally as Majek Fashek, was a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist.

In 1987, shortly after Jah Stix disbanded, Fashek, who now used the name Majek Fashek, signed with Tabansi Records and began a solo career, releasing the album Prisoner of Conscience and quickly becoming Nigeria's top reggae artist after the song "Send Down The Rain" became the most popular song of the year.

Majek Fashek was later dropped by Interscope before moving to Mango, a division of Island Records accustomed to marketing reggae internationally.

Majek Fashek has recorded several albums for various labels since, including Rainmaker for Tuff Gong and Little Patience for Coral.

Majek Fashek was one of the original Nigerian artists drawn to Caribbean music, specifically reggae, rather than indigenous hybrids such as fuji, juju, but was known to mix these genres to create his own style he called kpangolo, and the song "My Guitar", an ode to his favourite instrument, was heavily influenced by rock.

Majek Fashek had a supporting role in the 1999 Nollywood movie Mark of the Beast, and starred in a commercial for the non-alcoholic beverage Diamalt.

In November 2016 Majek Fashek contributed the song "We Are Not Afraid" to a video directed by former 10CC member Kevin Godley featuring over 200 celebrities including 53 members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to raise funds for the International Rescue Committee and Human Rights Watch.

Majek Fashek was married to Rita Majek Fashek who inspired the song "Without You"; the couple had four children together, but later divorced.

In 2015, it was revealed that Majek Fashek was bankrupt and battling drug addiction.

Majek Fashek was rumored dead in September 2019 but his manager quelled the rumors, confirming that Fashek had indeed been critically ill, hospitalized at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, London in the UK, and in dire need of financial assistance.

Majek Fashek died in his sleep on 1 June 2020 in New York City.