Tilahun Gessesse

Tilahun Gessesse (ጥላሁን ገሠሠ; September 29, 1940 – April 19, 2009) was an Ethiopian singer regarded as the most popular of his country's "Golden Age" in the 1960s.During the 1960s, he became famous throughout the country, nicknamed "The Voice".He raised money for aid during the famines of the 1970s and 1980s and earned the affection of the nation, being awarded a doctorate degree by the University of Addis Ababa and also winning a lifetime achievement award from the Ethiopian Fine Art and Mass Media Prize Trust. In his later years, he suffered from diabetes.He died on April 19, 2009 in Addis Adaba shortly after returning from United States.Tilahun was honoured with a state funeral attended by tens of thousands of his fellow citizens.