| By Noel Mwakugu BBC News, Kinshasa |
When Franco Luambo Makiadi died 20 years ago, the whole of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire), stood still.
 |   I remember he even made one [guitar] out of a tin and strings  Franco's aunt Elizabeth Masaka |
The death of the undisputed king of rumba was a shock to millions of people not just in his home country, but across Africa.
In his 40-year music career, Franco, as he was commonly known, had more than 100 albums and about a thousand songs to his name.
His style of music, a blend of Cuban rumba and authentic Congolese rhythms, wowed both the old and young. His influence can still be heard in Congolese music, which remains popular in nightclubs all over the continent.
Most of his hits were done in the 1970s but they still get a lot of airplay on Africa's radio stations - and in East Africa most FM stations have dedicated weekly or daily programmes to rumba, thanks to Franco.
His aunt Elizabeth Masaka, who in her 90s still lives in his home village of Sona Bata in western DR Congo, says from a tender age Franco showed all the signs that he would become a musician.
"As he was growing up he loved playing the guitar very much. I remember he even made one out of a tin and strings - he would carry it along to school and the market where he would entertain his friends," she told the BBC.
"I knew he would be a great musician."
School drop-out
When he moved with his parents to Kinshasa, the young Franco seemed to have already made up his mind to scale the musical heights.
|  I think he sang about what was happening in Kinshasa and at that time no musician was bold enough to do that Franco's first wife Pauline Laumbo  |
"Franco did not have interest in school so he joined a popular traditional music group - the group leader Papa Dewayu taught him to play the guitar and also compose music," his younger sister Marie Jane remembers.
"He later dropped out [of school at 12] and settled for music," she says.
Franco was inspired by musicians like Henri Bowane, Antoine Wendo and Kalle Kabasele who were big stars in Kinshasa in the 1940s.
He joined their group and perfected his guitar-playing skills. In the 1950s, he became the band leader, renaming the ensemble the TP OK Jazz after the OK Bar where they played.
However "the Sorcerer of the Guitar", as his fans nicknamed him, was not always popular with the authorities, especially after his hit Luvumbu Ndoki (The Wizard Who Kills People), a veiled reference to Zaire's former leader Mobutu Sese Seko.
Jail
But it was laws banning pornography that landed him and some of his band members in jail in 1979 for the sexually explicit lyrics of the songs Helene, Jacky and Francois.
 Franco still influences young Congolese musicians |
His first wife Pauline Laumbo says his fearlessness added to his popularity.
"It is difficult to say only one thing inspired him to compose, but he was a social commentator. I think he sang about what was happening in Kinshasa and at that time no musician was bold enough to do that. His style was different."
In the few interviews that Franco gave to the media he denied using his songs to attack influential politicians or corrupt businessmen; however his outspokenness did force him into exile in Belgium.
This turned out to be a blessing as, from his base in Brussels, he released the track Mario - which propelled him to international fame.
The song criticises a lazy young man who earned his living having affairs with wealthy older women.
Mausoleum
Other songs that gave Franco and the TP OK Jazz Band a ticket to tour the world were Mamou and Tres Impoli.
| He is our Picasso Broadcaster Biyevanga Lengemi |
The Congolese still fondly remember their legend and one cannot fail to hear his songs belting from bars and sound systems in the capital.
"He is our Picasso,'' says veteran Congolese broadcaster Biyevanga Lengemi.
Yet despite his continuing fame, his family feels the authorities in Kinshasa have not commemorated him properly.
His only son, Emongo Luambo, says the family plans to exhume his body from the public cemetery in Kinshasa where he was buried after his death in Belgium.
"We want to build a mausoleum in Sona Bata where his fans can pay him proper homage and even the youth in Congo can learn more about him," he said.
Marie Jose Jibambuyi, known by her stage name MJTrente, says upcoming Congolese musicians are still influenced by the "Guitar Sorcerer".
She was just a toddler when Franco was at his most famous.
"I believe apart from entertaining, music should also play a role in educating the masses," she says.
"Franco did that and I borrow a lot from him. I do not only sing about love, I also sing about social issues, thanks to Franco."
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