Ladysmith Black Mambazo Tickets

About Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ladysmith Black Mambazo a chorus from South Africa is considered to be the envoy of the country's culture. Ladysmith Black Mambazo plays and performs cappella isicathamiya and mbube music. They are considered to be the gems of the new South Africa as they personify the traditions repressed in the old South Africa. The chorus surfaced to worldwide recognition after working with Paul Simon on his album, Graceland. They also had gone with Nelson Mandela to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. They also sang at President Mandela's inauguration ceremony in May of 1994.The group is now considered as a mobile academy, which lets the world know about South Africa and its culture.

The group was formed by Joseph Shabalala, in 1960 and since then they have traveled a long way. In the late 1950's Joseph Shabalala went off to Durbanto to look for work in a factory. While out in the city he showed his talent for singing and worked with many groups. Eventually he returned to his home town and decided to form his own group. The actual inspiration for the music as Shabalala says came to him in his dream. Initially his group comprised of family and friends - brothers Headman, Ben and Jockey, cousins Albert and Abednego Mazibuko, and others. He diligently began teaching them the harmonies from his dreams. After a lot of hard work and patience his work began to bear fruit. The special sound of his dreams was created finally.

The group began to enter competitions and they won every single one of them so much so that they were later on prohibited to take part as they were too good. Of course they were always welcomed to sing for entertainment. Due to their winning spree, they got the name Ladysmith Black Mambazo, "Ladysmith" is the place from where the Shabalala family comes from; "Black" is meant as the oxen, regarded to be the strongest on the farm, the Zulu word "Mambazo" means an ax – which symbolizes the groups power to cut down any type of competition.

In 1970 their song was aired on a radio and it helped them clinch their first record contract. That was then, till now the group has recorded over forty albums, selling over seven million records in South Africa as well as in the International arena. Their work with Paul Simon on the "Graceland" album introduced their work to fans who had no idea about Zulu harmony.

Their maiden album for the United States release "Shaka Zulu", produced by Simon got the 1987 Grammy Award in Best Traditional Folk Recording category. That was their first nomination as well as win and since then they have been nominated for a Grammy Award eleven times. They took home their second Grammy Award, in 2005 in the Best Traditional World Music Recording category for "Raise Your Spirit Higher. In 2006 they released "Long Walk To Freedom" which was nominated for two Grammy Awards. In February 2007 Mambazo released their album Ilembe which has some new recordings like "Ommu Beno Mmu", "Sizobalanda" ("We Will Get Them") and "Iphel' Emasini".

The group has also done many commercials and appeared on televisions. After all the accolades and honors Joseph continues to teach the new generation what his elders had taught him. He has brought in new talent to the group, his four sons. He wants to preserve the rich tradition and culture of South Africa and pass it on to the new generation.