GO A&E
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It says on your website that by the end of the 1960s you guys were banned from competitions because you were so good. How did that feel? “It was an honor but it felt terrible. It was our way of helping our lives and our families. Winning farm animals and some money was important. Then they stopped us to give the other groups a chance for the prizes. Oh well, it seems to have worked out best for us.”
Your website also talks about the style of music you use— isicathamiya. Why does that have such an influence on Ladysmith Black Mambazo?
Let’s talk about your first meeting with Paul Simon. What was that like?
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“So amazing. We didn’t know who he was other than that he was a big American star. Being approached by someone we heard was a huge star was such a great moment for us. Our founder, Joseph Shabalala, would always tell us that we would break out of South Africa and be heard all over the world. We trusted him and believed him but we just didn’t know how that would happen. Then Paul Simon called us. We met him in London at Abbey Road Studios. It was so magical. We were ready to explode with joy and Paul could see this and he was so excited too. It was a very great time.”
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You’ve also worked with a ton of other famous artists. Who stands out the most?
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“So many different people and different styles—Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Josh Groban, Emmylou Harris, Natalie Merchant and so many others. Just last year we sang with a fella named David Guetta who is one of the biggest names in electronic style of music. Who could imagine us with him? Then in October we did a concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Dave Matthews joined us for some songs.”
“It’s a very important style and tradition in South Africa. It dates back to the early 1900s. We learned this style of singing when we were young and living on the farms outside of Ladysmith, South Africa. So it also has deep roots for our personal history, not just South Africa. Plus it’s so beautiful!”
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as huge as that was. The album won all the Grammy Awards and then we won our first Grammy Award. Then we toured with Paul for three years singing everywhere around the world. And then we began touring on our own since then. It’s been over 25 years of touring the world every year. We’ve won four Grammy Awards; we’ve recorded with many of the greatest artists in the world. It’s been a magical journey. It’s been a journey no black South African had any reason to imagine happening.”
Did you have any idea of the wave of fame that would come after his “Graceland” album? “No way we could imagine anything
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Is South Africa still the band’s home base? If so, what are the benefits and/or downfalls of that? “Yes, we all live in or near the city of Durban, which is on the Indian Ocean and is the second biggest city in South Africa. It’s wonderful there. No downfalls, other than the time it takes to fly to Europe or to USA. South Africa is so beautiful….and warm all year round. It’s home and it’s where our history is. Deep roots.”
At this point, how many Grammys have you been nominated for? How many have you won? “Sixteen nominations and four Grammy Awards. In fact, we just won our fourth in January 2014 for our recent CD, ‘Singing For Peace Around The World.’ It’s a very important CD for us because it’s about our mission in singing and performing. When we recorded it we dedicated it to Nelson Mandela and then the day after it
was nominated for the Grammy, President Mandela passed away. So it became even more important for us. Of course when we won the Grammy Award last year we dedicated that Grammy Award to President Mandela.”
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I have to ask — how do you feel about being part of such an iconic line in the movie “Mean Girls”?
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“You know, that’s such a great thing! Some of us in the group like to read Twitter to see what people write about us and we like to respond too. Any time that movie is on TV there is a big rush of ‘You love Ladysmith Black Mambazo’ tweets that go out so we always know when the movie is on. It’s funny how many young people don’t realize we are a real group. They’ll see our concert poster or CD somewhere and tweet that out and say, ‘I never knew they were a real group!’ It’s fun to be part of American movies and shows like that. We’ve been mentioned in Family Guy, too, and other shows.”
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Anything else you would like to add?
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“We’re so honored that the Fargo Theatre has us coming to Fargo. It’s been so many years that we have been singing in the USA and it’s never ever lost on us the appreciation of the American people for us and us for them. We hope people will decide to come see our show so we can share our music and dancing with North Dakota. We know everyone will truly enjoy the experience.”
Fargo Theatre
314 Broadway, Fargo
tickets300.com/ladysmithblack-mambazo-fargo
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