MF DOOM, one of US hip hop's most distinctive and respected MCs and producers, has died aged 49. The announcement was made by his wife on the last day of 2020, and his death had occurred in October.

In her message, she called him “the greatest husband, father, teacher, student, business partner, lover and friend” she could ever ask for, and thanked him for what he taught their family.

Daniel Dumile was born in London in 1971 and moved to New York as a child. He had a first flush of success in the early 1990s with the group KMD, who signed to Elektra Records, but his career collapsed with the death of his brother and bandmate DJ Subroc in 1993.

He rebuilt himself behind the metal mask and the character he never dropped, releasing projects including Madvillain with producer Madlib and becoming a reference point for later generations of rap and independent music.