Â鶹APP

Il musicista sudafricano Johnny Clegg. Photo by Gorup de Besanez.

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Johnny Clegg

Johnny Clegg was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist, some of whose work in musicology focused on the music of indigenous South African peoples.

His band Juluka began as a duo with Sipho Mchunu and was the first group in the South African apartheid-era with a white man and a black man. The pair performed and recorded, later with an expanded lineup. Let’s take a look at some of the most fascinating facts about him;

1. He was born to a Scottish father and Rhodesian mother 

Clegg was born on 7 June 1953 in Bacup, Lancashire, to an English father of Scottish descent, Dennis Clegg, and a Rhodesian mother, Muriel (Braudo).

Clegg’s mother’s family were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, and Clegg had a secular Jewish upbringing, learning about the Ten Commandments but refusing to have a bar mitzvah or even associate with other Jewish children at school.

His parents divorced when he was still an infant, and he moved with his mother to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and then, at the age of six, to South Africa, also spending part of a year in Israel during his childhood.

2. He was arrested aged only 15 for violating apartheid-era laws in South Africa

Clegg was arrested for violating apartheid-era laws in South Africa. Clegg’s involvement with black musicians often led to arrests for trespassing on government property and for contravening the Group Areas Act. As an adolescent in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, he encountered the demi-monde of the city’s Zulu migrant workers’ music and dance.

Under the tutelage of Charlie Mzila, a flat cleaner by day and musician by night, Clegg mastered both the Zulu language and the maskandi guitar and the isishameni dance styles of the migrants. He was first arrested at the age of 15 for violating apartheid-era laws in South Africa banning people of different races from congregating together after curfew hours.

3. Clegg graduated with a BA(Hons) in Social Anthropology 

Clegg graduated with a BA(Hons) in Social Anthropology from the University of Witwatersrand, Clegg pursued an academic career for four years where he lectured and wrote several seminal scholarly papers on Zulu music and dance.

In the early stages of his musical career, Clegg combined his music with the study of anthropology at Wits, where he was influenced by the work of David Webster, a social anthropologist who was later assassinated in 1989.

4. Clegg was a subject of an investigation by the security branch of the South African Police

In 1986 Clegg founded the band Savuka, and also recorded as a solo act, occasionally reuniting with his earlier band partners. Sometimes called Le Zoulou Blanc (French for “The White Zulu”), he was an important figure in South African popular music. 

He was also a prominent white figure in the resistance to apartheid, becoming for a period the subject of an investigation by the security branch of the South African Police. His songs mixed English with Zulu lyrics, and also combined idioms of traditional African music with those of modern Western styles. 

His songs also mixed English with Zulu lyrics, and also combined idioms of traditional African music with those of modern Western styles

5. He has received several honours in his career

Johnny Clegg. Photo by Tilly Antoine.

He has received several honours in his career including the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters) by the French Government in 1991, voted 23rd in the SABC3’s Great South Africans in 2004. He also received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of the Witwatersrand.

He also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the City University of New York School of Law in 2007 and received the Order of Ikhamanga, Silver as part of the National Orders ceremony. This award is the highest honour a citizen can receive in South Africa. It was presented by President Jacob Zuma in 2011.

In 2012 he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA. He also received an honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2013. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2015.

He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy Degree in Visual and Performing Arts from the Durban University of Technology alongside his Juluka bandmate, Sipho Mchunu in 2018.

6. Clegg’s net worth is around $ 5 million

Johnny Clegg beim Open Air Konzert in Valenciennes (Frankreich). Photo by davidata.

His net pay was around $ 5 million and he got his wealth primarily from his career as a musician and also from the many commercials he got from different brands across the world. He was one of the highest-paid musicians in the Music industry. 

During his career he recorded and performed with his bands Juluka and Savuka, and more recently as a solo act, occasionally reuniting with his former band mates. He was also one of the highest-paid performers.

7. Clegg has been married twice in his life

Johnny Clegg was married twice in his life, his first marriage, to Jean, ended in divorce and they had no child together. He married his second wife Jenny Clegg. They had two children named Jesse and Jaron. They inherited his properties and estates. 

Jesse is a popular South African singer-songwriter and a renowned recording artist. Johnny and his wife must be proud of their son who has already been nominated for three South African Music Awards. He is also one of the highest-paid musicians in South Africa.

8. He was best known for his Asimbonanga anthem tribute to Nelson Mandela

Johnny Clegg. Photo by Cecelia D. WIKIMEDIA

He was best known for the poignant, stirring 1987 anthem Asimbonanga (We have not seen him), a tribute to Nelson Mandela, who was then still in jail, and to other key figures of the anti-apartheid struggle.

Twelve years later, soon after he stepped down as president, Mandela joined Clegg on stage in Frankfurt as he was performing the song, in one of the most emotional scenes in political pop history.

9. His mother was married and divorced twice

Clegg’s mother was married and divorced twice, first by his dad and later by his stepfather and journalist Dan Pienaar. He was born in Bacup, Lancashire, to an English father, Dennis Clegg, and a Rhodesian mother, Muriel, a jazz singer from a Lithuanian Jewish family.

They divorced while Johnny was still an infant and his mother moved to Rhodesia, Israel and Zambia before settling in South Africa.

Muriel later married Dan Pienaar, a journalist, and though the marriage ended when Johnny was 12, his stepfather had by then already taken him to meet migrant Zulu workers in segregated black townships rarely visited by white people.

10. Clegg died of Pancreatic cancer aged 66 years old in 2019 

Johnny Clegg died on July 16, 2019, at his family home in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015. He was 66 years old.

His death was confirmed by his manager Roddy Quin in a statement on Facebook. His family holds a private funeral service. There will also be a service for the public to pay their respects. 

He was one of the richest musicians until his demise and was one of the best people who contributed a lot to the history of South Africa through his music.