All we hear is the sound of silence ...

With the passing of legendary Joseph Shabalala, a nation, musicians and fans worldwide cry, ‘Why, why, why?’

THE audience in the Royal Albert Hall in London was dead silent… almost spellbound. You could hear a pin drop on that April 12, 1999, evening.

Then, a smooth tenor voice pierced the silence, joined in harmony by the stirring sound of the bass, alto and first tenor. The lights cut through the darkness, breaking on the smiling faces of men dressed in colourful African shirts.

Their powerful voices rang through the hall as they swayed, gesticulated and danced, throwing up their legs in traditional Zulu dance style, moving in unison.

This was Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the group formed in rural KwaZulu-Natal, singing isicathamiya, a unique South African sound in London ... and the world loved it.

The group’s founder Joseph Shabalala, 78, who passed away yesterday after years of battling with complications from back surgery, was the ultimate emissary for South Africa.

In venues all over South Africa, the rest of Africa and the world, he sang like an angel, dined with kings and queens and performed with the royalty of global music, exposing the world to a unique South African musical sound and dance.

Shabalala and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the group he formed, have won more Grammys, the biggest prize in world music, than any other South African musician or music group.

In 1993, at Nelson Mandela’s request, Black Mambazo accompanied him and then South African president FW de Klerk, to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. Mambazo also sang again at Mandela’s inauguration in May 1994.

Born Bhekizizwe Joseph Siphatimandla Mxoveni Mshengu Bigboy Shabalala, he started the world-famous a capella group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, in 1960.

Shabalala, a young farm boy turned factory worker, named the group after his hometown Ladysmith, in KwaZulu-Natal.

Shabalala’s big break came in 1986 when American singer and songwriter Paul Simon travelled to South Africa to collaborate with South African artists for his Graceland album. Simon collaborated with Shabalala and Ladysmith Black Mambazo and co-composed the hit

Homeless.

In 1999, Shabalala founded The Ladysmith Black Mambazo Foundation, with the main objective of teaching the history of isicathamiya music to young people.

In 2014 Shabalala retired after over 50 years of leading the group, passing on the baton to his sons Thulani, Sibongiseni, Thamsanqa Shabalala, who joined Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1993.