The Congolese Government on Sunday mourned Africa music legend, Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba popularly known as Papa Wemba, describing his death as a loss to the continent.

As reported yesterday afternoon, Papa Wemba died on the way to the hospital after collapsing on stage during a concert. He was 66.

An Associated Press report quoted Congo’s Culture Minister Baudouin Banza Mukalay as calling the veteran musician’s death a “great loss for the country and all of Africa.”

Footage from the concert in Ivory Coast shows his fellow performers rushing to his side as he collapsed in front of thousands of fans. He was taken to a nearby clinic, but couldn’t be resuscitated. The cause of death wasn’t immediately known.

“It is a great loss for Congo and for all of Africa,” Congo’s cultural minister said. “He was a self-made man, a role model for Congolese youth.”

Known around the world as the king of Congolese rumba, Papa Wemba rose to fame in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa during the 1970s with the band Zaiko Langa Langa, whose guitar-based fusion of Latin and African dance styles inspired a generation of African musicians.

With a new band, Viva La Musica, Wemba moved to Paris in the 1980s and helped popularise Congolese music beyond Africa. He toured in the 1990s with British rock star Peter Gabriel and appears on his ‘Secret World Live’ album.

•Photo shows late Papa Wemba on stage.