Ray Phiri

South African jazz musician (1947–2017)
Person human Q916743
Press Enter · cited answer in seconds

Ray Phiri

Summary

Ray Phiri is a human[1]. He was born in Mbombela[2]. He was born on March 23, 1947[3]. He died in Mbombela[4]. He died on July 12, 2017[5]. He worked as a jazz musician[6], guitarist[7], jazz guitarist[8], singer[9], and musician[10]. He ranks in the top 0.73% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (145 views/month, #7,272 of 1,000,298).[11]

Key Facts

  • Born in Mbombela[2], Ray Phiri…
  • Ray Phiri died in Mbombela[4].
  • Ray Phiri was born on March 23, 1947[3].
  • Ray Phiri died on July 12, 2017[5].
  • Ray Phiri held citizenship in South Africa[12].
  • Ray Phiri worked as a jazz musician[6].
  • Ray Phiri's professions included guitarist[7].
  • Ray Phiri worked as a jazz guitarist[8].
  • Ray Phiri worked as a singer[9].
  • Ray Phiri's professions included musician[10].
  • Ray Phiri is recorded as male[13].
  • Ray Phiri's instance of is recorded as human[14].
  • Ray Phiri's genre is jazz[15].
  • Ray Phiri's record label is recorded as Gallo Record Company[16].
  • Ray Phiri's Commons category is recorded as Ray Phiri[17].
  • The cause of death was lung cancer[18].
  • Ray Phiri's residence is recorded as Johannesburg[19].
  • Ray Phiri's family name is recorded as Phiri[20].
  • Ray Phiri's given name is recorded as Ray[21].
  • Ray Phiri's manner of death is recorded as natural causes[22].
  • Ray Phiri's instrument is recorded as guitar[23].
  • Ray Phiri's languages spoken, written or signed is recorded as English[24].
  • Ray Phiri's start of work period is recorded as 1970[25].
  • Ray Phiri's P14750 is recorded as BAA9-8104-F155-1534-0E08[26].

Body

Origins and Family

Ray Phiri was born in Mbombela[2]. He was born on March 23, 1947[3].

Career and Affiliations

Recorded occupations include jazz musician[6], guitarist[7], jazz guitarist[8], singer[9], and musician[10].

Death and Burial

Ray Phiri died on July 12, 2017[5]. He died in Mbombela[4]. The cause of death was lung cancer[18].

Why It Matters

Ray Phiri ranks in the top 0.73% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (145 views/month, #7,272 of 1,000,298).[11] He has Wikipedia articles in 6 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[27] He is known by 4 alternative names across languages and contexts.[28]

FAQs

Where was Ray Phiri born?

Ray Phiri was born in Mbombela[2].

Where did Ray Phiri die?

Ray Phiri passed away in Mbombela[4].

What did Ray Phiri do for work?

Ray Phiri worked as jazz musician[6], guitarist[7], jazz guitarist[8], singer[9], and musician[10].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [13] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  4. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [9] ↑ . Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  10. [10] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  11. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [3] ↑ . Discogs. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  17. [5] ↑ . Discogs. Retrieved . timeslive.co.za. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  18. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [21] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [23] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  22. [24] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  23. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  24. [26] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [11] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [27] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [28] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Ray Phiri. Retrieved October 6, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/ray-phiri
MLA “Ray Phiri.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 6 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/ray-phiri.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_ray-phiri_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Ray Phiri}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/ray-phiri}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-06}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Ray Phiri — https://4ort.xyz/entity/ray-phiri (retrieved 2026-10-06)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/ray-phiri · Last refreshed:

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 1d ago · Printstream · 2026-10-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sinemalar person id → 651725
    Wikipedia languages → ['af', 'arz', 'commons', 'de', 'en', 'fr', 'hu', 'nl', 'pt', 'simple', 'ss', 'ts
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbeditentity-update-languages-short:0||de */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/57984|batch #57984]]: Import missing aliases from dewiki 1/3"
  2. 8w ago · Yirba · 2026-08-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14750 → BAA9-8104-F155-1534-0E08
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/46380|batch #46380]]: HAND ID (3)"
  3. 19w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-21 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Place of death → Mbombela
    Record label → —
    Cause of death → lung cancer
    Instance of → human
    + 19 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/32154|batch #32154]]: import P21 and P106 from GND (36)"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.