Lydia Achieng Abura (died 20 October 2016) was a Kenyan singer who performedAfro-jazz,Afro-fusion, andgospel music.
Achieng Abura was born inEldoret and held an MSc. degree in Philosophy and Environmental Studies. She had one child, a son named Prince.
She had a love for music, was a great orator, and took music professionally, debuting with a gospel album calledI Believe around 1990. Other albums that followed were,Way Over Yonder andSulwe. In 2002, when she had shifted to Afro-jazz, she released the albumMaisha.[1] Kenyan musicianAbbi was formerly Abura's backing vocalist before he became a prominent solo artist.[2] Later Abura released the albumSpirit Of a Warrior. In 2007, she released her last album titledDhahabu Yangu by the Blu Zebra label, owned byTedd Josiah.[3]
She was the voice ofCrow inTinga Tinga Tales.[4] She was aUNDP Goodwill Ambassador,[5] and toured abroad, for example in Spain.[2] She was a member of theDivas of The Nilesupergroup that featured four Kenyan female musiciansSuzzana Owiyo,Mercy Myra, andPrincess Jully, and performed at theFestival Mundial inTilburg, Netherlands in 2007.[6]
In 2008, she acted as a principal judge of the East AfricanProject Fame (TPF)[7] and also campaigned for theGlobal Call to Action Against Poverty.[8]
Abura died on 20 October 2016 after a short illness atKenyatta National Hospital.[9]
Abura won theKora Award in 2004 for Best East African Female; the award was shared withTsedenia Gebremarkos of Ethiopia.[10] She was nominated for the social responsibility category at the 2008Kisima Music Awards.[11] She was among theKenyan artistes sponsored by theAlliance Française in Nairobi.[12]
Before she died, Abura had set up an online fund for her son, Prince, who had a heart condition and sickle-cell anaemia. In the week following her death, the fund grew considerably and Prince was offered an educational scholarship.[13] Prince Abura later died on 10 May 2021 while he was a student atRiara University and was set to have graduated in September of the same year.
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