Damon Albarn doing virtual Tony Allen tribute this week
Damon Albarn will be among those performing a tribute to the late Tony Allen at the virtual AIM Awards 2020, which are to take place on Wednesday (August 12).
Allen passed away at age 79 earlier this year, following a legendary career that helped shape the sound of Afrobeat and inspired countless musicians. Allen is being honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the AIM Awards ceremony.
Albarn and Allen had a history together, including playing together for the projects The Good The Bad & the Queen and Rocketjuice & The Moon, and most recently collaborating on a Gorillaz track with Skepta called “How Far?”. It was recorded shortly before his passing and released posthumously as a tribute.
Albarn will perform his 2014 Tony Allen collaboration “Go Back” on the stream and he’ll be accompanied by his The Good The Bad & The Queen bandmate Simon Tong, current Gorillaz bandmates Seye Adelekan and Remi Kabaka Jr, and Ezra Collective‘s Femi Koleoso. The stream goes down at 2 PM EST (7 PM BST) on August 12 on SBTV’s YouTube and AIM’s official website.
Listen to “Go Back” below:
Damon Albarn @remikbakajr, @SeyeMusic @FemiOnDrums, @femiondrums & Simon Tong will perform a very special tribute performance for the late Tony Allen who will be receiving The Outstanding Contribution To Music Award this year at the AIM Awards @AIMAwards pic.twitter.com/uRzJqEZuHS
— Damon Albarn (@Damonalbarn) August 11, 2020