Marshall Munhumumwe, leader of one of Zimbabwe's greatest and most enduring guitar pop bands, the Four Brothers, died on October 13, at his home in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. He was just 49, but he had suffered a stroke in 1997.

As the youngest brother of legendary bandleader Thomas Mapfumo's mother, Munhumumwe was technically Mapfumo's uncle, although Mapfumo was some seven years older. Marshall was inspired early on by Mapfumo's musical endeavors. He says that Mapfumo even taught him to play drums and "banjo" (homemade guitar) when he was a school boy. When Marshall's father could no longer afford school fees, the boy began his own career in music. During the early 1970s, he played drums with the Great Sounds, and later a band called Black Jack. In 1977, Marshall formed a band with Alex Chipaika (rhythm guitar), Never Mutare (bass guitar) and Edward Zulu (lead guitar). They went to a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation studio to record their first song, "Mandega" ("Doing it alone"). But they had no name. As Munhumumwe told Afropop Worldwide in 1993, the producer said, "Since you are four, I will write Four Brothers." And the name stuck.

The Four Brothers blend of Zimbabwe rumba and chimurenga--guitar-driven adaptations of mbira style music--was instantly successful. Marshall was unusual as a singing drummer. The band certainly had a stomping, dance-happy sound, but the deeper appeal of their music came from Marshall's excellent compositions, and his gorgeous singing voice and vocal arrangements. After independence in 1980, the Four Brothers hit a new stride with the album Makorokoto, a double-gold hit in Zimbabwe, and the first Four Brothers title to be released internationally.

In 1988, the band played the WOMAD festival in England and returned to Harare with instruments and a PA system. Although it took them a year to clear the equipment through Zimbabwean customs, this marked another turning point. Now they could put up their own shows without being effectively "owned" by nightclubs with equipment. For the next ten years, the Four Brothers performed tirelessly in Zimbabwe, and released a flood of irresistible hits.

Then in May, 1997, tragedy struck. Marshall experienced severe headaches during the band's weekend shows in Chitungwiza. Sometime after their set at the legendary Rusununguko Beerhall, he suffered a massive stroke, which left his right side paralyzed. Marshall Munhumumwe never performed again. With his blessing, the Four Brothers have managed to go on without him, but absent his compositional skills, they have not produced the kinds of hits that were routine during the band's 1980s and early '90s heyday.

Marshall is survived by his wife Ledwin and four children.