Artists

Johnny Clegg

South Africa

Born in Lancashire in England , Johnny Clegg began his career in the 80s. He spent most of his childhood and youth in Zimbabwe and South Africa , countries which have greatly influenced him. At the beginning of the 70s, he met Zulu musician Sipho Mchunu and began to play with him.

This black/white duo challenged the South African music scene, which until then had been dominated by music from English-speaking countries. The duo introduced a completely new sound: Zulu rock – a mixture of African song and electric guitar.

In 1976, Johnny and Sipho created the group Juluka, which recorded seven albums, five of which went gold. In 1985, when the song Scatterlings of Africa became an international hit, Sipho decided to quit the band as he was no longer content with Western show business.

Johnny continued his career as a solo performer.
At the French music festival Printemps de Bourges , he performed Asibonanga as a tribute to Nelson Mandela.

In 1989 he released the single One Man, One Vote from his first album, Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World, which was produced the same year. Until 1994, Johny Clegg had recorded four albums; he then gradually withdrew from the rock scene, as he came up against various nationalist movements, which he was fighting against.

It was in 2006 that Johnny Clegg made a remarkable comeback to the world stage. He has now reclaimed his place as one of the great singing stars