Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced doo-beh)[1] (3 August 1964 – 18 October 2007) was a South African reggae musician and Rastafarian. He recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrikaans in a 25-year period and was South Africa's biggest-selling reggae artist.[2][3] Dube was murdered in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville on the evening of 18 October 2007.[3][4][5]
Lucky Dube | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lucky Philip Dube |
| Born | 3 August 1964 Ermelo, Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), South Africa |
| Died | 18 October 2007 (aged 43) Rosettenville, Johannesburg Gauteng, South Africa |
| Genres | reggae, mbaqanga |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Keyboards |
| Years active | 1981–2007 |
| Labels | Rykodisc, Gallo Record Company |
Biography
Early life
Lucky Dube was born in Ermelo, formerly of the Eastern Transvaal, now of Mpumalanga, on 3 August 1964. His parents separated before his birth and he was raised by his mother, Sarah, who named him Lucky because she considered his birth fortunate after a number of failed pregnancies.[6] Along with his two siblings, Thandi and Patrick, Dube spent much of his childhood with his grandmother, while his mother relocated to work. In a 1999 interview, he described his grandmother as "his greatest love" who "multiplied many things to bring up this responsible individual that I am today."[7][8]
Beginning of his musical career
As a child Dube worked as a gardener but, as he matured, realizing that he wasn't earning enough to feed his family, he began to attend school. There he joined a choir and, with some friends, formed his first musical ensemble, called The Skyway Band.[8] While at school he discovered the Rastafari movement. At the age of 18 Dube joined his cousin's band, The Love Brothers, playing Zulu pop music known as mbaqanga whilst funding his lifestyle by working for Hole and Cooke as a security guard at the car auctions in Midrand. The band signed with Teal Record Company, under Richard Siluma (Teal was later incorporated into Gallo Record Company). Though Dube was still at school, the band recorded material in Johannesburg during his school holidays. The resultant album was released under the name Lucky Dube and the Supersoul. The second album was released soon afterwards, and this time Dube wrote some of the lyrics in addition to singing. It was around this same time when he began to learn English.[8]
Moving into reggae
On the release of his fifth Mbaqanga album, Dave Segal (who became Dube's sound engineer) encouraged him to drop the "Supersoul" element of the name. All subsequent albums were recorded as Lucky Dube. At this time Dube began to note fans were responding positively to some reggae songs he played during live concerts. Drawing inspiration from Jimmy Cliff[9] and Peter Tosh,[7] he felt the socio-political messages associated with Jamaican reggae were relevant to a South African audience in an institutionally racist society.[9]
He decided to try the new musical genre and in 1984, released the mini album Rastas Never Die. The record sold poorly - around 4000 units - in comparison to the 30,000 units his mbaqanga records would sell. Keen to suppress anti-apartheid activism, the apartheid regime banned the album in 1985.[10] However, he was not discouraged and continued to perform the reggae tracks live and wrote and produced a second reggae album. Think About The Children (1985). It achieved platinum sales status and established Dube as a popular reggae artist in South Africa, in addition to attracting attention outside his homeland.[8]
Commercial and critical success
Dube continued to release commercially successful albums. In 1989 he won four OKTV Awards for Prisoner, won another for Captured Live the following year and yet another two for House Of Exile the year after.[11] His 1993 album, Victims sold over one million copies worldwide.[2] In 1995 he earned a worldwide recording contract with Motown. His album Trinity was the first release on Tabu Records after Motown's acquisition of the label.[11]
In 1996 he released a compilation album, Serious Reggae Business, which led to him being named the "Best Selling African Recording Artist" at the World Music Awards and the "International Artist Of The Year" at the Ghana Music Awards. His next three albums each won South African Music Awards.[11] His most recent album, Respect, earned a European release through a deal with Warner Music.[2] Dube toured internationally, sharing stages with artists such as Sinéad O'Connor, Peter Gabriel and Sting.[9] He appeared at the 1991 Reggae Sunsplash (uniquely that year, was invited back on stage for a 25-minute-long encore) and the 2005 Live 8 event in Johannesburg.[9]
In addition to performing music Dube was a sometime actor, appearing in the feature films Voice In The Dark, Getting Lucky and Lucky Strikes Back.[12]
Death
On 18 October 2007, Lucky Dube was killed in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville shortly after dropping two of his seven children off at their uncle's house.[13] Dube was driving his Chrysler 300C which the assailants were apparently after. Police reports suggest he was shot dead by carjackers. Five men have been arrested in connection with the murder.[14] Three men were tried and found guilty on 31 March 2009; two of the men attempted to escape and were caught.[15] The men were sentenced to life in prison.[16]
Legacy
On 21 October 2008, Rykodisc released a compilation album entitled Retrospective, which featured many of Dube's most influential songs as well as previously unreleased tracks in the United States. The album celebrated Dube's music and honored the contributions he made to South Africa.[17]
Discography
Mbaqanga
- Lengane Ngeyethu (1981)
- Kudala Ngikuncenga (1982)
- Kukuwe (1983)
- Abathakathi (1984)
- Ngikwethembe Na? (1985)
- Umadakeni (1987)
Afrikaans
- Help My Krap (1986)
Reggae
- Rastas Never Die (1984)
- Think About The Children (1985)
- Slave (1987)
- Together As One (1988)
- Prisoner (1989)
- Captured Live (1990)
- House of Exile (1991)
- Victims (1993)
- Trinity (1995)
- Serious Reggae Business (1996)
- Tax man (1997)
- The Way It Is (1999)
- Soul Taker (2001)
- The Other Side (2003)
- Respect (2006)
- Lucky Dube (2007)
Compilation
- Live in Jamaica (2000)
- The Rough Guide To Lucky Dube (2001)
- Lucky Dube Live In Uganda (2003)
- Retrospective (2008)
- The Ultimate Lucky Dube (2011)
References
- ^ Fun Facts, luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007
- ^ a b c Five facts about reggae star Lucky Dube, Reuters, 19 October 2007
- ^ a b S.Africa reggae icon shot and killed - radio, Reuters, 19 October 2007.
- ^ Hijackers gun down Lucky Dube, News24.com, 19 October 2007
- ^ S African reggae star shot dead, BBC News, 19 October 2007,
- ^ Car jacker kills reggae star, CNN, 19 October 2007.
- ^ a b Luvuyo Kakaza, "Getting Lucky". The Mail & Guardian. 26 August 1999. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) [dead link] - ^ a b c d Finding reggae, luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007
- ^ a b c d Basildon Petain, South African reggae star shot dead in front of his children, The Independent, 19 October 2007.
- ^ Condolences pour in for Lucky Dube, SABC, 19 October 2007.
- ^ a b c Discography, luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007
- ^ Who's Who: Lucky Dube, News24, Retrieved 10 October 2007.
- ^ Bobb, Scott (19 October 2007). "S. African Reggae Star Lucky Dube Killed in Attempted Car-Jacking". VOA News. Voice of America. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) [dead link] - ^ "Five arrests over SA star's death". BBC News. 21 October 2007.
- ^ Three Accused of the Murder of Lucky Dube Found Guilty Yahoo News, 31 March 2009
- ^ Reggae Star's Killers Get Life Independent, 3 April 2009.
- ^ Lucky Dube - Bio|Artists|RYKODISC
Further reading
- Sean Barlow & Banning Eyre, Afropop! An Illustrated Guide to Contemporary African Music (Book Sales, August 1995). ISBN 0-7858-0443-9, ISBN 978-0-7858-0443-7
External links
- Lucky Dube - Don't Cry - Best Download
- Lucky Dube - God Bless The Women
- Lucky Dube - Hand That Giveth - mp3 for Browser
- Lucky Dube - My Brother My Enemy
- Lucky Dube - Prisoner - Mp3 Download
- Lucky Dube - Remember Me
- Lucky Dube - Respect
- Photo-interview with sounds produced by Classical Reggae Interviews. This interview was used by the BBC London to produce a radio report about the death of Lucky Dube!
- Lucky Dube at discogs.com