- Born:
- June 7, 1953, Bacup, near Rochdale, England
- Died:
- July 16, 2019, Johannesburg, South Africa (aged 66)
Johnny Clegg
-
Who was Johnny Clegg?
Johnny Clegg (1953â2019) was a South African musician and anthropologist, known as the "White Zulu," who opposed apartheid through his music. Born in England, he spent his childhood in southern Africa before moving to Johannesburg. There, he studied anthropology, taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, and immersed himself in Zulu culture.
Clegg befriended Sipho Mchunu, a Zulu migrant worker, and together they formed Juluka, a band that blended Zulu music with European traditions. Juluka gained international recognition for its innovative music and anti-apartheid stance, despite facing censorship in South Africa. After Mchunu's departure, Clegg formed Savuka, incorporating Western genres like rock and jazz. Clegg later pursued a solo career, advocating for humanitarian causes like HIV/AIDS awareness.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What kinds of music did Johnny Clegg perform?
Johnny Clegg, known as the "White Zulu," was a South African musician who blended Zulu music with Western popular genres like rock, jazz, blues, reggae, and funk.
Clegg's music evolved through different groups:
* Juluka With Sipho Mchunu, Clegg created Juluka, blending Zulu music and European traditions. Their music spoke to the lives of migrant workers and was often performed in Zulu.
* Savuka After Mchunu left, Clegg formed Savuka, which incorporated more Western influences.
* Solo Career Clegg also embarked on a solo career, releasing albums like New World Survivor and One Life.Clegg's music was innovative and made a statement against apartheid. His work often included Zulu language, traditional music, and vibrant dance styles.
4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What was special about Johnny Cleggâs bands, Juluka and Savuka?
Johnny Clegg's bands, Juluka and Savuka, were unique for their ethnically integrated musical collaborations that spoke against apartheid in South Africa. In the late 1970s, Clegg and Sipho Mchunu formed Juluka, blending Zulu music with European traditions. Juluka gained local and international recognition, especially in France, despite the apartheid-era ban on mixed-race bands in South African radio. In 1985, after Mchunu's departure, Clegg created Savuka, which incorporated rock, jazz, blues, reggae, and funk influences. Savuka achieved international success with albums like Third World Child (1987).
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did Johnny Clegg mix different cultures in his music?
Johnny Clegg, known as the "White Zulu," blended cultures through his music, making a powerful statement against apartheid.
Clegg's exposure to both music and liberal politics in his home environment, along with his anthropology studies, allowed him to cultivate his involvement with Zulu arts and culture. He befriended Sipho Mchunu, a Zulu migrant worker, who taught him the Zulu language, traditional music, and dance.
Together, they formed Juluka, blending Zulu music with European traditions. Juluka's success was significant during apartheid, as their mixed band was barred from South African radio. Later, Clegg formed Savuka, further incorporating Western genres like rock, jazz, blues, reggae, and funk.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why was Johnny Clegg important during South Africa's apartheid era?
Johnny Clegg, known as the "White Zulu," was a South African musician whose ethnically integrated musical collaborations made a powerful statement against apartheid, the enforced separation of Black and white people and traditions in South Africa.
Clegg cultivated his involvement with the arts and culture of the local Zulu population while studying anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand. In the early 1980s, his band Juluka gained a strong local and international audience, despite the fact that apartheid barred music performed by mixed bands or that blended Black and white styles from South African radio. Juluka's success lay in its innovative music and its political statement against apartheid, which was increasingly condemned by the international community.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is Johnny Cleggâs legacy in South African music and society?
Johnny Clegg, also known as the "White Zulu," left a lasting legacy in South Africa through his music and activism against apartheid.
Clegg's band, Juluka, mixed Zulu music with European influences, gaining local and international recognition despite the apartheid-era ban on mixed-race bands. His later band, Savuka, achieved international success by incorporating Western genres such as rock, jazz, and reggae.
After apartheid, Clegg continued his musical activism, supporting humanitarian causes like HIV/AIDS awareness. His music and efforts earned him international honors.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Johnny Clegg (born June 7, 1953, Bacup, near Rochdale, Englandâdied July 16, 2019, Johannesburg, South Africa) was a South African musician, popularly called the âWhite Zulu.â His innovative, ethnically integrated musical collaborations in the late 20th century constituted a powerful statement against apartheid, the enforced separation of Black and white peoples and traditions in South Africa.
Although born in England, Clegg was raised in southern Africa. When he was a small child, he moved with his mother to her homeland, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she met and married a South African journalist. The family then moved to Johannesburg. Cleggâs home environment was both musical and politically liberal; his stepfather was an anti-apartheid crime reporter with a serious interest in Black African culture, and his mother was a cabaret singer. As a young adult, Clegg studied anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand, and, after receiving a masterâs degree, he taught at the institution for several years. During his time at the university, he was able to cultivate both his academic and his practical involvement with the arts and culture of the local Zulu population. In the 1970s he left his teaching position to focus on musical pursuits, with the ultimate aim of creating a blend of white and Black South African artistic traditions.
Clegg subsequently developed a friendship with Sipho Mchunu, a Zulu migrant worker and street musician in Johannesburg. From Mchunu, Clegg learned the Zulu language and traditional music, as well as the vibrant dance styles that later became a regular feature of his performances. Clegg and Mchunu performed as a duo for a few years before they assembled a band called Juluka (Zulu: âSweatâ). In 1979 Juluka released Universal Men, an album that spoke to the divided lives of the migrant workers who reside and work in the city, separated from their families and homes. Stylistically, the album was a fusion of Zulu music and various European traditions. Later albums were similarly blended. Ubuhle Bemvelo (1982), the groupâs third album, was performed entirely in Zulu.
During the early 1980s Juluka gained not only a strong local audience but also an enthusiastic international following, particularly in France, where Clegg fondly was labeled âLe Zoulou Blancâ (âThe White Zuluâ). Julukaâs success was an especially significant achievement during the apartheid era, when music that was performed by mixed (Black and white) bands or that blended Black and white styles was barred from South African radio. Julukaâs music, then, circulated primarily through live performances, which, particularly in South Africa, often led to encounters with the police. The groupâs appeal indeed lay as much in its innovative and engaging music as in the political statementâboth explicit and implicitâit made against apartheid, a system that was increasingly condemned by the international community.
In 1985 Mchunu left Juluka and Johannesburg to return to his homeland in KwaZulu state (now KwaZulu-Natal), and Clegg formed a new group called Savuka (Zulu: âWe Have Risenâ). Again, the group included both Black and white South African musicians, but the music of Savuka was more noticeably influenced by such Western popular genres as rock, jazz, blues, reggae, and funk. The new band enjoyed extraordinary international success, with their album Third World Child (1987) selling hundreds of thousands of copies and Heat, Dust & Dreams (1993) receiving recognition by Billboard magazine for best world-music album in 1994. Savuka dissolved in 1993, and Clegg reunited with Mchunu to record just one album, Crocodile Love (1997).
Clegg subsequently embarked on a solo career and released a number of albums, including New World Survivor (2002), A South African Story (2003), and One Life (2007). In 2015 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After undergoing treatment, he released the EP King of Time in 2017. That year Clegg embarked on a global farewell tour, called the Final Journey, and the last concert was held in 2018.
After apartheid officially ended in 1994, Clegg dropped from his repertoire most of the songs that were specific to that era. He remained a musical activist, however, advocating an array of humanitarian causes, including HIV/AIDS awareness. Clegg received numerous international honours for both his music and his philanthropic work.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
