Georgette Adjoavi Bellow (Tsévié, Togo, 1 January 1945 – 10 December 1973), better known as Bella Bellow, was a

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

lese singer who created an international career and recorded several albums. She died at the age of 28 in a car accident in Togo. She was born in Tsévié, Togo, to a Togolese father of Nigerian descent and a Ghanaian-origin mother. Bellow's first international performance was in 1966, when she represented Togo at the

First World Festival of Negro Arts The World Festival of Black Arts (French: ''Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres''), also known as FESMAN or FMAN, has been a series of month-long culture and arts festivals taking place in various parts of Africa. The festival features participant ...

Dakar, Senegal Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 million in 2023. Dakar is situated on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the w ...

. Her first album, named ''Rockya'', came out in 1969. In the album, she was accompanied by Camerounian band made up of

Manu Dibango Emmanuel N'Djoké "Manu" Dibango (12 December 1933 – 24 March 2020) was a Cameroonian musician and songwriter who played saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. His father w ...

, on saxophone, keyboards and arrangement, Jeannot Madingué on bass,

Slim Pezin André Pezin (25 October 1945 – 18 January 2024), also known as Slim Pezin, was a French guitarist, music arranger, musical producer and conductor who worked for many important people in French orchestra, from Claude François -- for whom he di ...

on the guitar and Ben's on drums She performed at the

Paris Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra ...

and recorded with

Angélique Kidjo Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo (; born July 14, 1960) is a Beninese- French singer-songwriter, actress and activist noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Kidjo has won five Grammy A ...

and Afia Mala have been influenced by Bella Bellow.

Discography

Albums

*1968: ''Rockia'' live in Paris *1977: A compilation album of memories on Sonafric label, specializing in African music.

Songs

(Selective) *1968: "Zelié" *1968: "Bléwu" (Patience) *1968: "Nye dzi" (My Heart) *1968: "O senye" (My destiny)" *1969: "Rockia" *1969: "Bouyélé" *1969: "Bem bem" *1977: "Lafoulou" *1977: "Denyigban" (Motherland)

References

1945 births 1973 deaths Road incident deaths in Togo Togolese people of Nigerian descent Togolese people of Ghanaian descent Togolese women singers {{Africa-singer-stub