Hugh Masekela, the legendary South African jazz musician, has died aged 78.

A statement from the trumpeter’s family said Masekela “passed peacefully” in Johannesburg, where he lived and worked for much of his life.

“A loving father, brother, grandfather and friend, our hearts beat with a profound loss. Hugh’s global and activist contribution to and participation in the areas of music, theatre and the arts in general is contained in the minds and memories of millions across six continents,” the statement read.

Hugh Masekela performs during the Observance for Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London in 2012.
Hugh Masekela performs during the Observance for Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London in 2012. Photograph: Leon Neal/AP

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Masekela had been suffering from prostate cancer for almost a decade. He last performed in 2010 in Johannesburg when he gave two concerts that were seen as an “epitaph” to his long career.

South African social media was immediately flooded with tributes to “brother Hugh”, whose career and work was closely intertwined with the troubled politics of his homeland.

Masekela was born in Witbank, a mining town in eastern South Africa, and was given his first trumpet by the anti-apartheid activist archbishop Trevor Huddleston, who formed a pioneering jazz band in Soweto in the 1950s that became a launchpad for many of South Africa’s most famous jazz musicians.

Masekela went on to study in the UK and the US, where he had significant success.

As well as close friendships with jazz legends such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charles Mingus, Masekela also performed alongside stars Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s. He was married to singer and activist Miriam Makeba, known as “Mama Africa”, from 1964 to 1966.

Hugh Mwith wife Miriam Makeba and Paul Simon in 1987
Hugh Mwith wife Miriam Makeba and Paul Simon in 1987 Photograph: Phil Dent/Redferns
In 1976, the man who became known as the father of South African jazz composed Soweto Blues in response to the uprising in the vast township. He toured with Paul Simon in the 1980s while continuing his political engagement, writing Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela) in 1987. The song became an anthem of the anti-apartheid struggle.

Towards the end of a career that spanned five decades he performed at the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg.

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The South African president, Jacob Zuma, said the nation would mourn a man who “kept the torch of freedom alive”.

“It is an immeasurable loss to the music industry and to the country at large. His contribution to the struggle for liberation will never be forgotten,” Zuma said in a statement.

The arts and culture minister, Nathi Mthethwa, described Masekela as “one of the great architects of Afro-Jazz”. “A baobab tree has fallen, the nation has lost a one of a kind musician,” Mthethwa wrote on Twitter.

Hugh Masekela photographed for the Guardian in 2011