Ladysmith Black Mambazo Wins Grammy Award

South Africa’s male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo won a Grammy award at Sunday’s ceremony.

Their album “Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration” won in the Best World Music Album category. The album is a tribute to the group’s founder, Joseph Shabalala.

With their soulful voices and traditional Zulu dance moves, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has sold millions of albums worldwide in the past fifty years.

Nelson Mandela described the legendary male choral group as “South Africa’s cultural ambassadors.”

Their album “Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration” won in the Best World Music Album category

 

Already successful in their homeland, the band’s international breakthrough came in 1986, when American singer and songwriter Paul Simon featured them on his album “Graceland.” Simon also took them on tour with him and produced the band’s “Shaka Zulu” album, which won the 1988 Grammy Award for best traditional folk album.

The award for the ‘Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration’ is the group’s fifth Grammy.

Joseph Shabalala named the group after his hometown, Ladysmith, a farming town in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains

Vivian Asamoah

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