Joseph Shabalala
Musician who found worldwide fame working with Paul Simon
JOSEPH SHABALALA, who has died aged 78, founded the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo; the band found global fame with their lush harmonies in 1986 thanks to their work on Paul Simon’s hit album Graceland.
Simon enlisted South African musicians – controversially, thanks to the international boycott – when he heard a bootleg cassette of township music, although Mambazo travelled to London and New York to record their parts.
Shabalala recalled meeting Simon: “He came to me like a child asking his father: ‘Can you teach me something?’ He was so polite. That was my first time to hug a white man.”
Shabalala wrote two songs with the American for the Graceland LP: Homeless (adapted from a Zulu wedding song) and Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, which Mambazo performed with Simon on the NBC television sketch show Saturday Night Live.
When it came to recording Homeless,a cappella, at Abbey Road, Simon joined Mambazo at the microphone. “I nearly fainted!” said Shabalala. “I’m thinking: ‘Who is this guy? He is my brother. Why is he hiding himself in America? I call him ‘brother’.”
Bhekizizwe Joseph Siphatimandla Mxoveni Mshengu Bigboy Shabalala was born on August 28 1941 at Ladysmith, in Kwazulunatal province, where his parents were farm workers. He began singing in his teens, with the Durban Choir and the Highlanders, while working in factories.
Then, in 1959, following a series of dreams in which he heard isicathamiya harmonies (isicathamiya is a type of unaccompanied singing originating in Zulu male choirs) he founded his own ensemble, Ezimnyana. In 1964 Ezimnyana became Ladysmith Black Mambazo – “black” for the colour of the local livestock, and “mambazo” meaning “axe”, a nod to their sharpness.
They began entering local competitions but were banned for winning too much, and their debut album, Amabutho, in 1973 made them one of the biggest acts in South Africa. When Shabalala converted to Christianity – he became a minister in the Pentecostal Church of God of Prophecy – they began singing holy music, mainly Methodist hymns; their first religious album, Ukukhanya Kwelanga (1975), went double platinum.
Graceland sold more than 16 million copies and gave Mambazo a worldwide following. In 1997 Simon produced their first majorlabel album, Shaka Zulu, which brought them one of their five Grammys, and they worked, among others, with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, and appeared on Sesame Street and the 1988 Michael Jackson film Moonwalker.
In 1993 they sang at Nelson Mandela’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, and at his presidential inauguration the following year. In 1995 they had a UK hit with Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, recorded for England’s 1995 Rugby World Cup campaign.
Two years later Inkanyezi Nezazi (“The Star and the Wiseman”) reached No 2 in the British charts after being used in a baked beans ad. In 2002 they performed for the Queen as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Shabalala, who retired in 2014, leaving his son Thamsanqa to take the reins, was beset by personal misfortune: in 1991 his brother Headman, a member of the group, was shot dead by an off-duty security guard in what appeared to be a racially charged incident.
In 2002 his wife of 30 years, Nellie – a pastor who had formed the ensemble Women of Mambazo – was also shot and killed, outside their home; Shabalala was injured trying to protect her. Two years later, Shabalala’s brother Ben, a former Mambazo singer, was murdered while driving his two children to school.
Joseph Shabalala is survived by his second wife, Thoko, and by his sons, four of whom still perform with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and two daughters.
Joseph Shabalala, born August 28 1941, died February 11 2020