Mulugeta Abate was an Ethiopian

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

, and

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

popular for his prolific work on about 400 different albums and more than 4000 songs in various languages of Ethiopia. His latest works include the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by '' Man Alemosoh'', which featured a popular song, "Wello". He was also credited for albums by dozens of singers in the

Oromo language Oromo, historically also called Galla, is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Oromo people, native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia; and northern Kenya. It is used as a lingua franca in Oromia an ...

including the pop star '' Saiha Sami'', and Desaligne Mersah in the

Gurage language Gurage (, Gurage: ጉራጌ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia.G. W. E. Huntingford, "William A. Shack: The Gurage: a people of the ensete culture" They inhabit the Gurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mounta ...

. He also arranged the popular Amharic song "ሕልሜን የት ልክሰሰው" sung by Gosaye Tesfye. Mulugeta Abate was born in Kombolcha, Wollo, Ethiopia. He was also known by another name, Roobaa Dhaabaa (Oromo name). In his latest interview with Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation/EBC3, Mulugeta explained that the name Roobaa Dhaabaa was given to him by Oromos as a reward for his wonderful contribution in the development of Oromo song industry. In Ethiopia, the vocalist receives most of the credit for the songs he or she performs, while the

and melodist are often not credited, or barely mentioned, and are generally unrecognized by the public. Thus, most Ethiopians do not know the authors of songs, as in the case of Mulugeta Abate. He died in November 2016.

External links

Appearance by Mulugeta Abate as Guest Host on Radio Fana
Ethiopian songwriters Ethiopian composers Ethiopian music arrangers 2016 deaths {{Ethiopia-musician-stub