Ebo Taylor

Biography

Ebo Taylor (born Deroy Taylor; 6 January 1936 – 7 February 2026) was a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, record producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.

Life and career

Born Deroy Taylor in Cape Coast, in what was then the Gold Coast colony, on 6 January 1936, he started playing piano at the age of six.
Taylor was a pivotal figure in the Ghanaian music scene for over six decades. In the late 1950s, he was active in the influential highlife bands the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band. In 1962, Taylor took his group, the Black Star Highlife Band, to London where he collaborated with Nigerian afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti as well as other African musicians.
Returning to Ghana, Taylor worked as a producer for musicians such as Pat Thomas and C. K. Mann—as well as pursued solo projects—combining traditional Ghanaian material with afrobeat, jazz, and funk rhythms to create his own recognizable sound in the 1970s. He was the inhouse guitar player, arranger, and producer for Essiebons, founded by Dick Essilfie Bondzie.
In 1992, Ghetto Concept included his afrobeats in their music.
Taylor's work became popular internationally with hip-hop producers in the 21st century. In 2008, Taylor met the Berlin-based musicians of the Afrobeat Academy band, including saxophonist Ben Abarbanel-Wolff, which led to the release of the album Love and Death×Love and Death1 November 2010 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Nga Nga5:242African Woman7:103Love and Death6:554Victory3:255Mizin5:126Kwame3:427Aborekyair Aba7:268Obra5:37 with Strut Records (his first internationally distributed album) in 2010. The same year, Usher used a sample from Taylor's song "Heaven" for "She Don't Know" with Ludacris. His songs were also sampled by artists including the Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Rowland, Jidenna, Vic Mensa and Rapsody.
He collaborated again with the Afrobeat Academy in Berlin in 2011. In 2017, his Ghanaian funk anthem "Come Along" was popular among DJs.
The success of Love and Death prompted Strut to issue the retrospective Life Stories: Highlife & Afrobeat Classics 1973–1980, in the spring of 2011. A year later, in 2012, a third Strut album, Appia Kwa Bridge×Appia Kwa Bridge16 April 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Ayesama7:042Abonsam5:303Nsu Na Kwan4:474Yaa Amponsah4:275Assomdwee5:556Kruman Dey4:397Appia Kwa Bridge5:308Barrima3:24, was released. Appia Kwa Bridge showed that at 77 years old, Taylor remained creative, mixing traditional Fante songs and chants with children's rhymes and personal stories into his own sharp vision of highlife.
He performed at the 2015 edition of the annual Stanbic Jazz Festival along with Earl Klugh, Ackah Blay and others.
In 2025, at the age of 89, Taylor received renewed attention in the United States through the label Jazz Is Dead after decades as an often unheralded force in West African music, according to a New York Times article by David Peisner.

Death

Ebo Taylor died on February 7, 2026, in Saltpond, a town on the coast of Ghana. A delegation from the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), led by its president, Bessa Simons, paid a condolence visit to his family in Saltpond.

Awards and recognition

Life Time Achievement Award – 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award – 2019 Highlife Music Awards
Music Legend of the year – 2019 Ghana Business Awards

Albums

My Love and Music (LP) (Gapophone Records), 1976
Ebo Taylor (Essiebons), 1977
Twer Nyame (Philips-West African-Records), 1978
Me Kra Tsie - Ebo Taylor & Saltpond Barkers Choir (LP) (Essiebons), 1979
Conflict - Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu (Essiebons), 1980
Calypso "Mahuno" and High Lifes Celebration - Pat Thomas & Ebo Taylor (Pan African Records), 1980
Hitsville Re-Visited - Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas & Uhuru Yenzu (LP) (Essiebons), 1982
Abenkwan Puchaa (Essiebons), 2009
Love and Death (Strut Records), 2010
Life Stories: Best of Ebo Taylor 1973–80 (Strut Records), 2012
Appia Kwa Bridge (Strut Records), 2012
Yen Ara (Mr. Bongo), 2018
Palaver (Tabansi/BBE Music), 2019 (rec. 1980)
Ebo Taylor JID022 (Jazz Is Dead), 2025
As contributing artist
The Rough Guide to Psychedelic Africa (World Music Network) 2012