Johnny Clegg
b. Jonathan Clegg, 7 June 1953, Rochdale, Lancashire, England. The leader of two multi-racial South African Zulu/pop bands - Juluka and Savuka - vocalist and composer Clegg arrived in South Africa with his family in 1959. By the age of 10 he had fallen in love with African, and in particular, Zulu, music. His first memories of Zulu music are of hearing street performer Mntonanazo, who performed frequently in his neighbourhood. Later, while reading social anthropology at Wits University, Clegg formed a friendship with a migrant worker and musician named Sipho Mchunu (b. 1951, Kranskop, Natal, South Africa), and in 1972 the two began performing together as Johnny And Sipho, forming their first band, the sextet Juluka (Zulu for "sweat") in 1976. They quickly developed an innovative fusion of fierce mbaqanga rhythms and universally appealing pop melodies. While most Africans responded with great enthusiasm to the sight of a white man immersing himself in Zulu music, the reaction of white South Africans was by and large hostile, and Juluka were engaged in a running battle with the authorities. They suffered from racist abuse, threats of violence and then an extreme shortage of available venues in a country where multi-racial gatherings were, to all practical purposes, forbidden.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Asimbonanga (Live)
- Scatterlings Of Africa
- Cruel Crazy Beautiful World
- Love Is Just a Dream
- Kilimanjaro
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