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Award-winning Mbira musician, Mbuya Stella Chiweshe has died. She reportedly passed on this morning at her Kuwadzana home in Harare, relatives have confirmed.

Born Stella Rambisai Nekati Chiweshe on July 8, 1946 in Mujumi Village, Mhondoro, Mbuya Stella Chiweshe was undoubtedly Zimbabwe’s Queen of Mbira and one of the country’s foremost cultural exports.

Sharing the news of her death, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe director Nicholas Moyo said: “It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Nama legend, Mbuya Stella Rambisai Chiweshe, 77. Her daughter Virgnia Mukwesha-Hetze informed me that Mbuya Chiweshe died peacefully from cancer of the brain at home in Harare this morning.”

With her swooping vocals on the mbira, Mbuya Chiweshe brought traditional Zimbabwean Shona music to the international stage.

With a career spanning over 40 years, Mbuya Chiweshe was a recipient of various local and international awards, including the Billboard Music Award (1993), Nama (2006), the Nama Lifetime Achievement Award (2020), and the Nama Legends Awards (2021).”

Moyo said burial arrangements will be announced in due course with mourners gathered at Mukwesha Homestead in Chinyika, Goromonzi.