Johnny Clegg, Tion Into Zulu Language, Music and Dance That Set the Course for His Life
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Established 1961 20 The First Daily in The Arabian Gulf L i f e s t y l e Music & Movies Thursday, July 18, 2019 In this file photo a cosplayer dressed as Pennywise from “It” poses during the Comic Con fes- tival at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris. In this file photo Cosplayers attends Comic Con in San Diego, California. — AFP photos This file photo shows the hall of the Convention Center during Comic Con in San Diego. smorgasbord of sequels, prequels and reunions And lackluster reviews be damned: the cast of “Game and cutting-edge visual effects aiming to cast a spell town, and hopes are mounting that he and billed “surprise from “Terminator” to “Game of Thrones” awaits of Thrones”-or at least a hardy few-will reassemble to on old and young alike. panelists” will unveil identities of the eight untitled Marvel Athousands of misty-eyed comic book geeks and dissect HBO’s fantasy epic in front of an audience that In its search for the next “Game of Thrones” the web films on parent company Disney’s release slate. sci-fi nerds descending on San Diego this week for the has had little time to cool down since Mad Queen streaming giant is set to lift the lid on “The Witcher,” A standalone film for Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow world’s largest celebration of pop culture fandom. The Daenerys and her dragons brought the franchise crash- starring Superman actor Henry Cavill as the monster and a fourth “Thor” movie are among those widely 50th edition of Comic-Con International will see ing to a conclusion. With author George R. R. Martin hunter from a series of cult 1990s Polish novels which thought to be in the works. “Avengers: Endgame” directors 135,000 cosplayers, bloggers, movie executives and rumored to be attending, devotees who have kept the spawned a lucrative video game franchise. Another set the Russo brothers will also stop by to discuss the making humble fans pile into a sweaty convention center for faith will be scouring for details of the numerous prequel of magical books getting the premium TV treatment is of a film edging ever-closer to toppling Avatar’s global all- glimpses of their heroes, in town to promote the next series believed to be in development. Philip Pullman’s acclaimed “His Dark Materials” trilogy, time box office record. mega-hit films, TV shows and comic books. which will be previewed by HBO on Thursday. Cast The absence of any DC Universe movies from Warner This anniversary edition promises to be more nostal- members James McAvoy, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ruth Bros. has been coolly received by superhero fans, howev- gia-laden than most-among those expected to appear Kicking things off onNetflix Wednesday evening is New Wilson will attend. er, while film studio giants Sony and Universal are skip- are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, who Line Cinema and Warner Bros.’ now-traditional “Scare ping this year entirely. And sure to stir controversy in will soon reunite on screen for the first time since 1991’s Diego,” which for the second year running will offer Marvel Studios returns‘Phase after Four’ skipping an edition and is some of the internet’s darker depths is an early glimpse at “Terminator 2” for Paramount’s killer cyborg sequel fans insights into evil clown slasher “It: Chapter Two,” expected to announce which characters from its comic- The CW’s new “Batwoman” series, featuring Ruby Rose as “Dark Fate.” Also pushing hard on sentimental buttons based on the 1986 Stephen King novel. Netflix may be book back catalog will next be mined for its hyper-suc- an openly lesbian, feminist superheroine. — AFP will be Patrick Stewart, attending a panel for the launch newer to the game, but it too is mining the archives in cessful “cinematic universe.” After the recent “Avengers: of CBS’s new Star Trek series in which he reprises the search of its next big hit. A prequel series to classic Endgame” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” it is now fan-favorite role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard after 1982 fantasy film “The Dark Crystal” is generating time for “Phase Four” of the juggernaut of interconnected almost two decades. buzz, with its combination of old-fashioned puppetry superhero films. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is in migrant workers playing street guitar and started taking lessons. It was an introduc- Johnny Clegg, tion into Zulu language, music and dance that set the course for his life. Clegg continued to learn from these the ‘White Zulu’ men who had left their homes to find work in the city but kept their traditions alive, visiting their barracks-like hostels and who broke taking part in their dancing competitions. “I felt like an immigrant,” he told the New York Times in 1990. “The migrant workers apartheid taboos were themselves immigrants, so we had a similar feeling of marginality in the city... outh African rocker Johnny Clegg, That was emotionally something I could whose best-known songs included relate to.” He took his passion to Wits Sone dedicated to the imprisoned University where he studied anthropology Nelson Mandela, was beloved at home with a focus on Zulu music and dance, and abroad for using music as a unifying staying on as a lecturer. force in a nation scarred by apartheid. A photo taken on March 27, 1989 shows South African singer Johnny Clegg In this file photo taken on February 3, 1990 French Prime Minister Michel Nicknamed the “White Zulu”, he mastered (right) married with Jennifer Bartlett (left) in a traditional Zulu wedding on Rocard (right) pays tribute to South African singer Johnny Clegg (center), next the language, culture and high kicks of Clegg’s reputationJuluka as a “Zulu guitarist” March 26, 1989 in the Natal province in South Africa. — AFP photos to French TV host Michel Drucker (left), during the 5th Victoires de la Musique, Zulu dance, creating two multi-racial led to a meeting with self-taught street the annual French music awards ceremony, at the Zenith concert hall in Paris. bands in defiance of the segregationist musician Sipho Mchunu, another migrant laws of the apartheid-era government, worker, and the pair went on to found the which censored his work. band Juluka, which means “sweat” in Zulu. “We had to find our way around a Challenging apartheid laws that prohibit- myriad of laws that prevented us from ed mixed-race performances in public mixing across racial lines,” he told AFP in venues, they played at universities, church 2017. With curly hair and an amiable halls and migrant hostels. They were sub- demeanour, Clegg maintained his energy ject to harassment from the authorities and passion even as pancreatic cancer and sometimes arrest. took hold, embarking on a “Final Journey In 1979 they released their first album, Tour” of several countries in 2017 after “Universal Men,” when Clegg turned pro- egendary South African singer Johnny Singer-songwriter & Anthropologist Johnny “Johnny could have been one of the most privi- being diagnosed two years earlier. He fessional. Juluka’s music received little Clegg, who blended Zulu rhythms with Clegg,” Arts and Culture Minister Nathi leged people as most white people were-but he died of cancer at his home in airplay in South Africa but reached large LWestern styles and defied apartheid segre- Mthethwa posted on Twitter. chose to take a different direction and join in Johannesburg on Tuesday, aged 66. international audiences through 1982- gation laws, died on Tuesday after a long battle “Our hearts are sore & as he famously sang highlighting the atrocities of apartheid through In a career that spanned four 1983 tours of Europe and North America. with cancer. “Johnny passed away with his fami- in Asimbonanga ‘oh the sea is cold & the sky is his music and joined with many people involved decades, he sold more than five million The song “Scatterlings of Africa” topped ly this afternoon,” manager Roddy Quinn said. grey’ as we contend with the loss of a torch- in liberation struggle. “Johnny took it upon him- albums, earned a slate of international the charts in England and France, where “We are devastated.” Clegg succumbed to bearer of our struggle for freedom.” The South self to sing and write about Nelson Mandela awards and provided a soundtrack to the Clegg was particularly celebrated. pancreatic cancer at the age of 66 at his home African government account tweeted that Clegg when not many white people would have done anti-apartheid struggle and South in Johannesburg, more than four years after he “has left deep footprints in our hearts”. Veteran that. “His contribution was immense in profiling Africa’s transition to multi-racial democ- Savuka was diagnosed. “Johnny leaves deep footprints singer and old friend Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse South Africa as a pariah state. Today we are a racy in 1994. The group disbanded when Mchunu in the hearts of every person that considers told SABC that “this is probably one of the most different country because of what people like returned to his family farm in 1985 and Clegg formed Savuka, which means “we himself or herself to be an African,” Quinn said. sad days for this country to have lost someone Johnny have done.” Dancing with Mandela “He showed us what it was to assimilate to like Johnny Clegg. His song “Asimbonanga” was dedicat- have risen”. The band took up the suc- and embrace other cultures without losing your “Johnny was in the forefront of everything ed to Mandela and released in 1987, when cessful path laid by Juluka, including identity.