Zimbabwean musicians mourn Lundi

After a long battle with stomach TB and liver complications award-winning gospel star Lundi Tyamara has died.

Sources close to the musician confirmed he died in an Edenvale hospital Johannesburg, South Africa in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The Ndixolele hitmaker was moved to ICU on Monday after his condition took a turn for the worse.

Insiders confirmed that the singer was placed on oxygen machines as his liver "had practically stopped working".

Despite the dire situation his family remained hopeful that "God's intervention" would help get him through the ordeal and called on the nation to pray for him.

Lundi was first admitted to hospital in December after returning from a trip to China.

Zimbabwean musicians joined the rest of the continent in mourning the gospel musician.

Charles Charamba said he was saddened by the death and recalled how in 2005 Lundi came to the Charambas' Gunhill residence in Harare for a brief chat where he invited them to a concert he was performing. Victor Kunonga expressed similar sentiments while hip hop musician Mudiwa took to Twitter to express his condolences. Diana Samkange had strengthening words for Lundi's family.

Meanwhile, the man who discovered Lundi says he was a tough man who was adamant he could make it in the industry.

Founder of Zuz'muzi Music, Tshepo Nzimande, says Lundi was only 16 years old when he came to Johannesburg in 1995 and wanted to record his own album. Nzimande said he will be remembered for his great work.

"I will remember Lundi as one of the toughest gospel artistes I have ever seen because Lundi went through a lot in his time, to an extent where I thought that he was going to give up. There was all this bad publicity, which some of them were true but people would come on Thursday and not have a story and think— let me target Lundi because he is known for this."