Legends honoured

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO FOR GRAMMYS Group’s members overwhelmed with excitement.

The legendary South African isicathamiya group Ladysmith Black Mambazo has done it again. The group has been nominated for the 60th Grammy Awards taking place in 2018.

“Incredible news! The Grammy Awards nominated two of our CDs this year. Best Children’s Album of 2017: Songs of Peace & Love for Kids & Parents Around the World; [and] Best World Music Album of 2017: Shaka Zulu Revisited. What Incredible news,” the ecstatic group wrote on Twitter.

The renowned acapella group will compete against Memoria De Los Sentidos by Vicente Amigo, Para Mi by Buika, Rosa Dos Ventos by Anat Cohen, and Trio Brasileiro and Elwan by Tinariwen. In the Best Children’s Album for Songs Of Peace & Love For Kids & Parents Around The World, the multi-ward-winning group will contest against Brighter Side by Gustafer Yellowgold, Feel What U Feel by Lisa Loeb, Lemonade by Justin Roberts, and Rise Shine #Woke by Alphabet Rockers.

Assembled in the early 1960s by Joseph Tshabalala, then a young farm boy turned factory worker, the group acquired the name Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

“Ladysmith is the name of Joseph’s hometown, about three hours west of Durban and three hours east of Johannesburg; Black being a reference to the oxen, the strongest of all farm animals; and Mambazo being the Zulu word for axe, a symbol of the group’s ability to ‘chop down’ any singing rival,” The group states on their website. –

Pictures: Gallo Images STEPPING UP. Grammy Award winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Wouter Kellerman perform together at the Naledi Awards, in the Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City, last year.

SPREADING LOVE. Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been nominated for the 16th time for a Grammy. The group has won it four times.