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He was 54.

Affectionately known as “Prince Tendai”, the musician died at Dalfan Clinic in Borrowdale on Tuesday night after a long battle with a motor neurone disease that affected his mobility and speech after his Mercedes Benz sports utility vehicle was involved in an accident last year.

Alex Goho, a family friend, confirmed the death, describing it as another sad chapter not only to the Mupfurutsa family, but to the business community and the music industry at large.

“It is indeed a great loss to everyone, from the music industry to business and the community,” he said.

“He was a brother, a friend and everything to many people.”
The trendy music personality had been in and out of hospital, including in the Far East, where he was hospitalised for several months.

His condition deteriorated in the last weeks of his return home.
Prince Tendai and his newly-formed promotion company, ZimSwagg, brought American R&B star Akon and dancehall singer Sean Paul to Zimbabwe last year.
Mupfurutsa’s death has plunged the music and business circles into mourning, with some describing it as a big blow to the nation.

“It’s difficult to explain the pain. It is a great loss to the arts industry because he contributed a lot to the entertainment industry,” said Nicholas Moyo, the deputy director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe.
“We can’t live without entertainment and here is one hero who has been taken away from our midst. I have listened to his music and I crown him a hero in the arts.”

Gospel musician Amos Mahendere described Mupfurutsa as a legend in his own right.
“It is indeed a great loss to the industry. He was one of the pioneers of urban contemporary music (now known as urban grooves) in Zimbabwe,” he said.

“He fought for the recognition of Zimbabwean music on the international market and also spearheaded the fight against piracy. It is an irreplaceable loss.”
Mupfurutsa rose to fame in the 1990s as the leader of the group Midnight Magic. He was also a music producer, but it was his music that catapulted him to fame.

Many will remember Prince Tendai for opening the doors to many young artistes and music promoters in Zimbabwe.
Prince Tendai recorded his first hit “Zambezi to Limpopo” with the Midnight Magic.
It went gold in the 1980s.

His other hits, under his Barbed Wire sound, included Character and Chipo Babe. Through his High Density Studio, one of the first few indigenous record companies, Prince Tendai who once described himself as a “sucker for charity” discovered a lot of talent in the music industry.

He worked with several groups and musicians like Kenny Mwanza, the late Marshall Munhumumwe, Newman Chipeni, Isaac Chirwa, Phillip Rusike, the late Fortune Muparutsa, Robson Banda, Mitchell Jambo, Ho-hodza, Mau Mau, B.L.E.S.S, Soul Bone and Afrika Revenge.

Prince Tendai once recorded with rhumba giant Kanda Bongoman.
Mourners are gathered at Number 4 Wallwick Road, Greystone Park in Harare.