MOBO Awards founder, Kanya King dies at 57 after cancer battle

A British businesswoman who founded the MOBO Awards, Kanya King, is dead.

Kanya King reportedly died on June 3, 2026, after a battle with colon cancer. She was 57.

The MOBO Organisation announced the sad news in an official statement shared on Instagram on Friday.

“It is with immeasurable sorrow that MOBO Organisation announces the passing of its Founder and CEO, Kanya King CBE, on 3 June 2026 after a courageous battle with colon cancer,” the organisation wrote in a lengthy post.

DAILY POST reports that Music of Black Origin, popularly known as MOBO, is an annual British music awards programme founded in 1996 by Kanya King.

Kanya was born to an Irish mother and a Ghanaian father in Kilburn, north London, on February 12, 1969.