MOBO founder and CEO Kanya King CBE has died at the age of 57, the organization has confirmed.
MOBO (Music of Black Origin) announced in a press statement that Dr. King “passed away peacefully on Wednesday, June 3, after a courageous and determined battle with colon cancer.” She also added that she was “surrounded by family, close friends and love.”
King was a co-founder of the MOBO Awards, which celebrated its landmark 30th anniversary in 2026. The event celebrates music of national and international Black origin and is held annually, and the 2026 edition saw performances by Olivia Dean and FLO.
Over the years, the likes of Stormzy, Amy Winehouse, 50 Cent, Sade and Central Sea have received awards from MOBO, while Rihanna (2006), Lauryn Hill (2005) and Destiny’s Child (1999) have also performed at the event over the years.
“Kanya created more than just an awards ceremony,” the statement added. “This was an act of cultural justice. MOBO not only celebrated Black music, it legitimized and amplified Black music, demonstrating its commercial and creative power to a world that too often has chosen not to see Black music.”
In 2024, King announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. At MOBO in February 2025, King said, “I’ve never let anyone define my limits, not in life, not in business, and I will never do that now.”
King was born in Kilburn, north London, in 1969 to a Ghanaian father and an Irish mother. She was working as a television researcher when she founded the MOBO Awards with Andy Ruffel in 1996.
Speaking to Billboard UK in March, she said that at the time, “there was no real infrastructure or clear pathway for black music here. Institutional recognition was virtually non-existent.” King remortgaged his home to finance the awards, which were attended by future British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Over the years, MOBO has been at the forefront of and reacting to the UK’s growing scenes, including garage music and grime. “We’ve helped artists go from underground to mainstream, and from local to global. We’ve examined some of the often dismissed genres, from early UK R&B, garage and grime to Afrobeat. In many cases, MOBO provided artists with their first national platform at a time when others didn’t,” King told Billboard UK.
MOBO also hosted a number of social initiatives to empower Black creators. House of MOBO, for example, was founded earlier this year as a place “where people can come together to celebrate, collaborate, and build.”
King was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1999 and was promoted to CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2018.
“The world is a better place because of Kanya King,” the statement added. “The MOBO family is saddened, but infinitely grateful, proud and inspired by everything she gave to music, culture and the generations that will follow in her footsteps.”
King is survived by his son, Jem;
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