Kanya King, the founder of the Mobo Awards, has died at the age of 57 after battling colon cancer.
The 57-year-old late icon’s family said she passed away on Wednesday, surrounded by close family and friends.
The Mobo Organisation also confirmed the news and shared that she faced her illness with courage and face up.
Kanya created the Mobo Awards in 1996 to celebrate Black music and artists. However, the show became one of the biggest platforms for music in UK and helped many new artists get recognition.
The awards recently marked 30 years in Manchester.
She once shared that she paid for the first event herself, even though people told her not to but she believed in her idea.
Kanya grew up in London and faced many struggles in her life, as she left school as a teenager after becoming a mother and was told very often that she would not succeed in her life.
Moreover, that pushed her to work even harder and achieve whatever she had in her life.
Kanya King then later studied in college and worked in media before starting the Mobos, with the aim of giving more space to music that was used to get ignored.
2026-06-05 15:57:00
