Drumming up support for  their ICC T20 World Cup campaign in India next month, the Proteas have released their own rendition of the Pitbull’s hit Fireball. Maybe there’s also a career in music! Watch the video above or below. .@faf1307 is on FIRE &in leopard print in the Proteas’ latest video. #WATCH #Fireball here: https://t.co/UyEfBMoqDx pic.twitter.com/yulQugBzdO — […]

Many people know “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – a song often associated with the movie “The Lion King” – but few people know the famous tune was born in a small town in South Africa almost a century ago. In tribute to that song – originally titled “Mbube” – we thought we’d post several of the countless wonderful versions that have been done […]

It was one of South Africa’s many dark moments. Fifty years ago, on 11 February in 1966, the neighbourhood of District Six on the fringe of Cape Town’s centre was declared for “Whites Only”. More than half a century later the area has (lamentably, after many hold-ups) still not been built on, and it remains a very visible […]

In the first of a series of sold-out concerts around the country, British Grammy-award-winning rock band Mumford & Sons played to a crowd of thousands on the Grand Parade in Cape Town on Friday night. The band will play another concert in Cape Town, one in Durban and two in Pretoria. Watch the crowd join […]

It was 1966. Racial divisions were growing more entrenched in South Africa by the day but the issue was still little publicised abroad. A young black South African woman, however, was raising her voice against apartheid while cutting a swathe through the international music scene, opening doors for women, especially black women in years to come. She was the 34-year-old […]

Jesse Clegg, the pop singer son of Johnny Clegg, will be doing a 35-show tour of the United States early this year, as soon as he has released his new album. Clegg – who has just released a brilliant new single, “Souvenir” (see video above and below) – said in an radio interview on Friday […]

Three years ago this weekend, small-town Mpumulanga schoolgirl Pretty Yende made her debut at the world-famous Metropolitan Opera House in New York. More astonishing than her voice was that it had been only a decade since Yende had learned what the word “opera” meant. This weekend Yende posted a message on Instagram from Paris, where she is soon to […]

In sad and shocking news for the music world and millions who grew up loving David Bowie, the rocker who defied the odds to remain a superstar for decades has died at the age of 69. The news comes only days after he celebrated his birthday and shortly after he released his latest album, which […]

“Nomvula” is a very chill, very catchy Xhosa song by up-and-coming singer Nathi – he’s been called “a breath of fresh acoustic air” – in a gorgeous video shot around his home province of the Eastern Cape. The song is from his debut album, “Buyelekhaya”, and has already been viewed over 300,000 times on YouTube in less […]

The already well-known three-year-old DJ Arch Junior has won the ‘South Africa’s Got Talent’ competition, and picked up a half a million rand in prize money in the process. The tiny DJ, Oratilwe Hlongwane from Alexandra, Johannesburg, who was clearly a favourite with the judges even in the semifinals, was one of six acts who reached the final, […]

Jeremy Loops has taken to Facebook to reveal just how challenging it can be for a South African musician to fill concert halls around the world. Many South Africans abroad – in other professions – will relate to that higher hurdle you sometimes have to jump to prove, to those at home and abroad, that you […]

A video of Sihle the Drummer (his surname is not given on Facebook) playing drums on an assortment of stand-in objects was first posted on his Facebook page in August and was viewed at least 410,000 times. That seems to have gotten him a real set, which he now plays in a new video. Watch Sihle’s first […]

The ‘South Africa’s Got Talent’ audience was on its feet Sunday night when DJ Arch Junior, all of three years old, took to a digital music deck and handled the jog wheels and transport controls like a pro. Oratilwe Hlongwane from Alexandra township has reached the semifinals of the show’s national competition. He’s the youngest person to have ever been on the […]

Charlie Simpson, the British singer who busted up his band Busted, is in the news for rejoining the band, but it’s his collaboration with a group of San Bushmen that has got us tapping our feet to the unforgettable beat. It’s great! The song ‘Walking with the San’ was played last week on the show ‘Singing in […]

This weekend Oppikoppi celebrated 21 years of bringing South Africans together with good music and great memories, while creating a unique template for diversity, acceptance and artistic collaboration. Considering the Oppikoppi music festival’s roots – a makeshift barroom stage atop a hill on a farm deep in the North West province – it has come a […]

African music, Nelson Mandela once said, is about the aspirations of Africa. “The curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope.” A collection of […]

The Solms Delta wine estate in Franschhoek, in the Western Cape, goes by a tag line that says the farm is much more than just a wine estate. True to its word, Solms-Delta does not only produce classical wines, but classical music as well. The wine estate is located in the picturesque Franschhoek Valley, a […]

Jack Parow’s latest music video is a wonderful tribute to all the workers in South Africa…and instead of using models or actors he features some of the country’s very real working heroes (see below). This is a song that’s for anyone who works to make ends meet, who may hate their job but needs to pay […]

The Big Apple will welcome South Africa for three weeks in October, when the city’s iconic Carnegie Hall will host a music and arts festival focusing on the nation, called Ubuntu. An exciting array of events has been planned for the famous space and for partner venues throughout New York City. Audiences will be able to explore the dynamic and […]

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has dedicated their latest Grammy award to the memory and legacy of former president Nelson Mandela, news agency AFP said on Monday. The traditional isicathamiya group shared the award with “flamenco fusionists” The Gipsy Kings for “best world music album” for their record Singing for Peace Around the World at the awards in Los Angeles in […]

South African singer Karen Zoid delivers one of the most beautiful renditions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”…in a very emotional and moving tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela. Watch it here: Karen Zoid (35), who was actually born in Belgium, first shot to fame in South Africa 10 years ago with her first solo […]

South African musician Marshall Harmse has come up with a brilliantly catchy Christmas song, with a great video (see below) to get South Africans in the mood for Christmas. Well, sort of.  It’s more a protest song than a Christmas carol…with the chorus chant of  “My heart is as heavy as a stone is…Coz they […]

South African music legend Johnny Clegg was taken by “complete ambush” (his words) when he joined Martin Bester Drive (MBD) radio show in November 2013. The Jacaranda FM radio team had a surprise in store for him…that turned into a tearjerker for both Johnny and the studio team themselves! MBD had contacted Johnny’s musician son […]

Check out this video of a guy in Zimbabwe who’s discovered a novel way to dance if you’re missing a partner. Just dance with your bike!

South Africa’s zef rap group, Die Antwoord, have done it again – producing a video that’s impossible to ignore. “Fatty Boom Boom” is intelligent, funny and not for the squeamish! Note the brilliant inclusion of “Lady GaGa”, a parktown prawn and the demise of GaGa’s infamous meat dress.  In less than three days, they’ve attracted […]