Background
He was born in Kikwit within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He was born in Kikwit within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Nearly 80,000 people attended the first concert after his return, which was a record-setting feat according to the Congolese media.
Emeneya Djo Kester was innovative with his music He was the first central African musician to incorporate electronic instruments (synthesizers) in his album entitled Nzinzi which sold millions of copies in 1987. After years of success with populars songs, in 1993 he released his album Every Body distributed by Sonodisc.
Every body was a big success internationally.
In 1997, after a seven-year absence, King Kester returned to Congo. He has more than 1000 songs to his cr and has performed on all continents.
King Kester Emeneya was an advocate of the African people. He was involved in charitable activities through his foundation.
Emeneya was concerned about the level of poverty in the continent and wanted to make sure that Governments in different African nations managed enough efforts to improve the social lives of their citizens.
A supporter of Barack Obama. Emeneya performed a concert in Kinshasa in 2009 to help celebrate Obama"s inauguration as the first United States black president From 1991 until his death in Paris in February 2014, King Kester Emeneya lived mostly in France with his family.
Emeneya"s funeral was the largest in the history of Congo and was broadcast live on all channels in Congo and many others around the world.
On April 6, 2014 Pope Francis welcomed Emeneya"s family to Vatican City to express his support. This is the highest civilian award to be bestowed by a Congolese president
The award is given by a presidential decree. King Kester Emeneya was also awarded the title of Ambassador of Peace posthumously by the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2015.
On April 25, 2014, a tribute concert held in his hometown of Kikwit ended in disaster, and at least forty people in the stadium lost their lives in a stampede following a power failure.
While a student of political science at the University of Lubumbashi in 1977, King Kester joined the band Viva Louisiana Musica. He praised the United States President in a number of his interviews for being an advocate of the poor.