Mobo Awards Founder Kanya King Dies at 57 After Stage 4 Cancer Battle
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 5
Mobo Awards Founder Kanya King Dies at 57 After Stage 4 Cancer Battle
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 5
Summary
Kanya King died on Wednesday at 57 after what the Mobo Organisation called a courageous battle with colon cancer, ending a three-decade campaign to elevate black music in Britain.
Founded in 1996 with money from her own pocket, the Music of Black Origin awards grew into a major industry fixture that backed genres from R&B and reggae to grime and Afrobeat.
King, awarded an MBE in 1999 and a CBE in 2018, built the Mobos after breaking into a predominantly white, male music industry as a teenage mother who had dropped out of school.
Her influence extended beyond the awards through diversity advocacy, including Mobolise, the Creative Industries Council and a 2020 open letter pressing for action on systemic racism.
King revealed a stage 4 bowel cancer diagnosis in December 2024 and was last seen at the Mobos' 30th-anniversary ceremony in Manchester, where Pharrell Williams praised her determination to keep working through treatment.
Kanya King proved Black music's multi-billion-pound value. What's the next step in the fight for economic equity she championed?
How will the MOBOs evolve without the visionary who battled gatekeepers to build a cultural institution from her bedroom?
Kanya King’s Passing and the 30th Anniversary of MOBO: A Legacy of Cultural Justice and Empowerment
Overview
Kanya King, a pioneering single mother from a Kilburn council estate, passed away on June 3, 2026, at age 57 after battling colon cancer. Her death deeply affected the music world, sparking an outpouring of tributes. In 1996, King re-mortgaged her home without industry support to create the MOBO Awards, a platform that transformed British music by celebrating Black talent. Despite being told Black music was too niche, she chose to build rather than argue, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire and empower new generations through the MOBO Organisation.