Johnny Clegg

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Johnny Clegg (2009)
Johnny Clegg (2009)
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Shadow Man (& Savuka)
  CH 4th 
gold
gold
06/05/1988 (11 weeks)
  US 155 09/10/1988 (7 weeks)
Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World (& Savuka)
  DE 43 02/19/1990 (11 weeks)
  CH 5 
gold
gold
02/04/1990 (16 weeks)
  US 123 05/12/1990 (13 weeks)
Heat, Dust & Dreams (& Savuka)
  CH 16 05/02/1993 (7 weeks)
In My African Dream - The Best Of (& Savuka)
  CH 16 
gold
gold
07/17/1994 (10 weeks)
Crocodile Love (with Sipho Mchunu as Juluka)
  CH 39 06/29/1997 (2 weeks)
Singles
Scatterlings of Africa (& Savuka)
  UK 75 05/02/1987 (3 weeks)
Asimbonanga (Mandela) (& Savuka)
  CH 45 12/22/2013 (1 week)
  UK 94 01/30/1988 (2 weeks)
Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World (& Savuka)
  CH 26th 02/11/1990 (3 weeks)
  UK 86 02/10/1990 (1 week)

Jonathan "Johnny" Clegg , OBE (born June 7, 1953 in Bacup near Rochdale , United Kingdom ; † July 16, 2019 in Johannesburg ) was a guitarist , singer , dancer and composer . He lived in South Africa from 1960 . He became known as the front man of the pop music groups Juluka and Savuka .

biography

Clegg's father was a fighter pilot in the British Royal Air Force . His parents divorced early, prompting his mother with him to their home Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe returned). There Clegg learned the language of the Ndebele . Clegg's mother married a South African journalist and moved to Johannesburg in 1960 . Clegg studied ethnology at the University of Witwatersrand and was a lecturer for several years, but gave up teaching in 1982 in order to devote himself entirely to music.

At the age of 15 Clegg met the Zulu Mntonanazo Mzila in Soweto , who introduced him to ritual music and dances. In 1969 he met Sipho Mchunu in Johannesburg and performed with him as Johnny & Sipho , which was only possible in private settings or in churches and small clubs due to the apartheid laws . In 1976 they released the first singles that were rooted in Zulu music and Western folk . While the censors banned the duo's lyrics, they became popular figures of the avant-garde, featured in the British documentary Rhythm of Resistance from 1978. In 1981 Clegg and Mchunu as well as the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo recorded traditional African music for Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne.

Hilton Rosenthal , the artistic director of CBS South Africa , offered Johnny & Sipho to record an LP. For this they brought in four other musicians. This is how the first "multiracial" pop group in South Africa came about, called Juluka ( isiZulu for sweat ) and in 1979 released their first album, Universal Men . The sextet's music merged rock with Zulu music. Juluka's second album, African Litany , received two gold records in South Africa. In 1983 Juluka found international acclaim with the album Scatterlings . The theme song is about the fact that everyone is a scatterling , a refugee and homeless, because humanity comes from Africa and has scattered to the wind. Scatterlings of Africa is featured on the Rain Man soundtrack . When Sipho Mchunu gave up his career as a professional musician in 1984, Juluka broke up.

In 1985 Clegg formed his second multi-ethnic band Savuka (Eng. "We are awake"), which he understood as a backing band for his performances. As the head of Savuka, Clegg aimed for a mixture of rock and mbaqanga (township jive). In 1987 the album Third World Child was released . Then there is the song Asimbonanga that the then captive Nelson Mandela dedicated. The album reached number 1 on the LP charts in France and the French rock star Renaud wrote the song Jonathan for Johnny Clegg & Savuka . The follow-up album Shadow Man from 1988 also reached the top of the French charts and in Switzerland at number 4. It also entered the charts in the USA.

Due to the general boycott of South Africa's apartheid regime, Clegg was unable to attend the Nelson Mandela birthday concert on June 11, 1988 in London. After the South African turnaround in 1990, Clegg co-founded the South African Musicians Alliance and was also involved in other anti-apartheid groups.

In 1990 Clegg was successful in Germany with Savuka's third album Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World and a live show. In 1992 the World Network series released a double CD with Clegg recordings. At the end of 1992 and beginning of 1993, with the support of Savuka and various studio guests, Clegg produced the album Heat, Dust & Dreams , which deals with the murder of his friend Dudu Zulu and the politics of South Africa, in which Afro-Pop mixes with Indian ragas . In 1994 Savuka broke up after a tour of Germany. Clegg played the album Crocodile Love with Sipho Mchunu , which was released in 1997. It includes the track Love Is Just a Dream , which was also released as a single. In 1999 he sang Asimbonanga at a concert in Frankfurt am Main , when Nelson Mandela stepped onto the stage from the background and danced along.

In 2002 Clegg's first solo album New World Survivor came out, in 2003 the live CD A South African Story , his eponymous stage show and a DVD compilation of Johnny Clegg / Savuka / Juluka videos and live performances. Together with world stars, he performed at the AIDS concert 46664 in 2003 (repeat concerts in 2005 and 2007). In 2010 the album Human was released .

Another area of ​​activity for Clegg was music and dance documentaries that appeared on DVD.

He has had pancreatic cancer since 2015 . In 2017/2018 he undertook his final tour because of his illness , which he had to cancel for health reasons. He died in Johannesburg in July 2019 at the age of 66 from complications from his cancer.

His son Jesse Clegg (* 1988) appears as a singer-songwriter .

Awards

In 1991 Clegg received the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres . In 1994 he won the Billboard Music Award for Best World Music Album for Heat, Dust & Dreams .

On July 13, 2007, Johnny Clegg received an honorary doctorate from the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg and an honorary doctorate from the School of Law at the City University of New York on April 5, 2011. He has also received honorary doctorates from Dartmouth College and the University of KwaZulu-Natal . In 2012 he received the Ikhamanga medal in silver. In 2015 he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Discography (albums)

Johnny Clegg (right in the spotlight), Paris 2007

With Johnny & Sipho (Duo Juluka)

  • 1978 The Cologne Zulu Festival (1992)
  • 1981 African Litany
  • 1997 Crocodile Love
  • 1998 Le rock zoulou de Johnny Clegg & Sipho Mchunu

With Juluka

  • 1979 Universal Men
  • 1982 Scatterlings (European version)
  • 1982 Ubuhle bemvelo
  • 1983 Work for All
  • 1984 Musa ukugilandela
  • 1984 Stand Your Ground
  • 1984 The International Tracks
  • 1991 Scatterlings of Juluka
  • 1992 The Best of Juluka
  • 1994 Live and Raritie
  • 1996 A Johnny Clegg and Juluka Collection
  • 1996 Scatterlings (US version)

With Savuka

  • 1985 The Johnny Clegg & Savuka (EP)
  • 1985 Third World Child (1987) (CH: platinumplatinum)
  • 1986 The Good Hope Concert
  • 1988 Shadow Man
  • 1990 Cruel Crazy Beautiful World
  • 1993 Heat, Dust & Dreams
  • 1994 In My African Dream
  • 1997 The Very Best of Johnny Clegg & Savuka
  • 2006 The Best of Johnny Clegg & Savuka - In My African Dream

solo

  • 1999 The Johnny Clegg Anthology
  • 2000 The Best of Juluka / Savuka featuring Johnny Clegg
  • 2002 New World Survivor
  • 2003 A South African Story - Live at the Nelson Mandela Theater
  • 2003 Live and More (DVD)
  • 2003 Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees (Soundtrack)
  • 2006 Heart of the Dancer (Remix)
  • 2006 One Life (FR)
  • 2007 Live at the Nelson Mandela Theater (DVD)
  • 2007 My Favorite Zulu Street Guitar Songs (DVD)
  • 2010 Spirit Is the Journey (The Best of Celebrating 30 Years)
  • 2010 Human
  • 2017 King of Time

Movies

  • Johnny Clegg - The White Zulu (France 2018)

Web links

Commons : Johnny Clegg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Johnny Clegg. In: hitparade.ch. Retrieved August 16, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Steffen Hung: precious metal. In: hitparade.ch. Retrieved August 16, 2019 .
  3. ^ British Hit Singles & Albums. 18th edition, Guinness World Records Limited 2005, ISBN 9781904994008
    Chart history Johnny Clegg & Savuka - Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World. In: Official German Charts. Retrieved August 16, 2019 . Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World - Album by Johnny Clegg & Savuka. In: chartsurfer.de. Retrieved August 16, 2019 . Joel Whitburn : The Billboard Albums. 6th edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
  4. ^ SA musician Johnny Clegg has died. In: eNCA. July 19, 2019, accessed August 16, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Claudia Bröll: South Africa mourns the legendary musician Johnny Clegg. In: faz.net . July 17, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019 .
  6. ^ Tony Jackman: Johnny Clegg's poignant and personal final journey. In: Daily Maverick . January 31, 2018, accessed February 25, 2018 .
  7. ↑ South African musician Johnny Clegg has died. In: Deutschlandfunk-Kultur broadcast “Kulturnachrichten”. July 16, 2019, accessed July 16, 2019 .
  8. ^ Official website of Jesse Clegg , accessed on August 28, 2018
  9. ↑ Johnny Clegg. In: johnnyclegg.com. Accessed August 28, 2018 .
  10. ^ Tribute to Johnny Clegg - Doctor of Music (honoris causa). University of KwaZulu-Natal Press Release, July 18, 2019, archived from the original on July 18, 2019 ; accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  11. ^ National Order Awards: Ikhamanga. In: SabinetLaw. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  12. ^ Johnny Clegg receives OBE for services to South African democracy. In: SAPeople.com. November 26, 2015, accessed on August 28, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Clegg, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clegg, Jonathan (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-South African guitarist, singer, dancer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 13, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Bacup near Rochdale , United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH 16th July 2019
Place of death Johannesburg