Johnny Clegg
Jul. 17th, 2019 04:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nitaAn amazing person died this week...
Johnny Clegg, A Uniting Voice Against Apartheid, Dies at 66
Ever since I was a teen, I had an interest in world music - along with the general enjoyment of pop and rock-n-roll. At first, I was drawn to Celtic and folk music. As I got older, I started to branch out into a bigger world of music, from countries beyond the British isles. Thanks to a magazine (I think now defunct) called Songlines and to Peter Gabriel, I learn what amazing music was out there. That's who learned about Johnny Clegg.
Thing is, I didn't just admire him for the music. I admired him for what he did with his music and what he stood for. His bands were biracial in apartheid South Africa - and because of that his music couldn't be played on the radio. Harassment and censorship to the point he said that it became impossible to play in South Africa. So became an international success.
I could say more, but I couldn't do justice to his story. If you aren't familiar with him, read the NPR article in the link. (NPR, of all the news outlets, is the one that really did an excellent story on his life.) Even better, go listen to his music.
Johnny Clegg, A Uniting Voice Against Apartheid, Dies at 66
Ever since I was a teen, I had an interest in world music - along with the general enjoyment of pop and rock-n-roll. At first, I was drawn to Celtic and folk music. As I got older, I started to branch out into a bigger world of music, from countries beyond the British isles. Thanks to a magazine (I think now defunct) called Songlines and to Peter Gabriel, I learn what amazing music was out there. That's who learned about Johnny Clegg.
Thing is, I didn't just admire him for the music. I admired him for what he did with his music and what he stood for. His bands were biracial in apartheid South Africa - and because of that his music couldn't be played on the radio. Harassment and censorship to the point he said that it became impossible to play in South Africa. So became an international success.
I could say more, but I couldn't do justice to his story. If you aren't familiar with him, read the NPR article in the link. (NPR, of all the news outlets, is the one that really did an excellent story on his life.) Even better, go listen to his music.