Johnny Clegg’s son, Jesse, second from left, and Sipho Mchunu, second from right. Image via Twitter @Jesse_Clegg
Jesse Clegg performs Zulu ritual for his father’s spiritual crossing
Having spent years on tour with his father, acclaimed musician and anthropologist, Johnny Clegg, his son, Jesse, has honoured the singer in a tribute to his Zulu connections.
Johnny Clegg’s son, Jesse, second from left, and Sipho Mchunu, second from right. Image via Twitter @Jesse_Clegg
Jesse and other family members travelled to the homestead of Johnny’s former bandmate, Sipho Mchunu, on 9 and 10 February.
At Mchunu’s house in Blythedale Beach, KwaZulu-Natal, Jesse shared that friends and family held an important ritual as part of his father’s spiritual crossing.
Tweeting ‘continued love’ for Johnny Clegg
Tweets in response to this were heartwarming, with some sharing their continued love for Johnny Clegg, and others mourning his physical absence.
Still others shared their favourite memories and songs.
Ritual for ‘White Zulu’
The ritual recently conducted for Johnny comes almost five years after the iconic musician was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015. The disease ultimately took his life on 16 July 2019. Johnny is reported to have died at the age of 66 in his Johannesburg home surrounded by loved ones and was laid to rest the following day in Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg.
Following in father’s footsteps
Jesse has followed in his father’s musical footsteps. He’s a singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist, whose three studio albums — When I Wake Up, his 2011 follow-up, Life on Mars, and his latest, Things Unseen — have made him a platinum-selling success.
Johnny and Sipho, formed their duo band, Juluka, in 1969. They were the first group in the South African apartheid era comprising of a white man and a black man.
Juluka went to become a six-member group by the time it released its first album, Universal Men, in 1979. Despite being ignored and often harassed by the South African government, Juluka were able to tour internationally, playing in Europe, Canada, and the United States (US).
