Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
A hero’s welcome for SA legends
Black Mambazo bag fifth Grammy
FROM Michael Jackson to Oprah, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has rubbed shoulders with the world’s legends in the entertainment industry.
After picking up their fifth Grammy award, the band jetted into South Africa on Wednesday evening to a warm welcome from fans. The group will spend time with family before heading to London on Tuesday to prepare for Queen Elizabeth’s 92nd birthday performance.
This is the third time Black Mambazo will perform for the UK monarch, who is “fond of them from way back”.
The group won their fifth Grammy award in the Best World Music category for their latest album Shaka Zulu Revisited, a win they learned about while performing in Los Angeles when their audience “started clapping their hands and celebrating for ten minutes”.
They shot to stardom on the world’s global music stage in 1986 when they sang with Paul Simon on his album Graceland and went on to become one of South Africa’s most prolific, if not most famous, recording artists.
Sitting in a studio at the band’s offices in Glenwood, Durban, for the interview, the members went down memory lane with founding member Albert Mazibuko saying that “without doubt” he would love to repeat each and every performance, collection of awards and travelling around the globe.
Mazibuko said meeting the Jacksons back in 1988 while Michael Jackson was shooting the music video Moonwalker stood out as the Jacksons were the most popular family around the world at that time.
“The Jacksons were like the Kardashians as you youngsters know that family nowadays. We were fond of the Jacksons. We met them while touring in Los Angeles after performing in the Broadway Theatre District. As we were passing by a Hollywood movie set, that’s when we heard Michael was shooting his music video.
“At first we were reluctant to meet the guy since he’d just changed the colour of his skin and rumour had it that he had mixed emotions after his surgery,” said Mazibuko. But then a moment took place which changed his opinion.
“Michael did not shake people’s hands without wearing white gloves, but that day he took off his gloves and shook hands with all of us.”
After their performance for the queen in Britain, Black Mambazo will be returning to Pretoria to prepare for their concert at the State Theatre taking place on June 1, 2 and 3.
The group also revealed that while they did meet Nelson Mandela, they had never met Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
“I personally feel so ashamed that I’ve never met the mother of the nation yet we’ve met women icons from overseas. But we did meet Nelson Mandela back in 1995. As a group we are deeply moved by the passing of mam Winnie and condolences go to the family,” said Mazibuko.