Miriam () was the sister of Moses and Aaron, and the daughter of Amram and Jochebed. She appears first in the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible.

Biblical account

At her mother Jochebed's request, Miriam hid her baby brother Moses by the side of a river to evade the Pharaoh’s order that newborn Hebrew boys be killed. She watched as the Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the infant and decided to adopt him. Miriam then suggested that the princess take on a nurse for the child, and suggested Jochebed; as a result, Moses was raised to be familiar with his background as a Hebrew. ()

Miriam is called a prophetess, and is traditionally believed to have composed a brief victory song after Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the Red Sea ().

“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”

It is considered by many that this poetic couplet is one of the oldest parts of the Biblical account.

Later, she objected to the marriage of Moses to a Cushite woman, which made her guilty of speaking Lashon hara (gossiping, or speaking negatively about someone), for which she was struck with ''tzaraat''. After Aaron asked Moses to intercede for her, Moses uttered a five-word prayer:“O Lord, make her well,” and she recovered within seven days. () A passage in Micah suggests she had a legacy with significant regard among later prophets: “And I brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, and I sent before you Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam.” ()

Miriam in Jewish culture

The poetic couplet in Exodus 15 is considered by many to be one of the oldest parts of the Biblical account. Rashi’s commentary on this verse, based on the Mekhilta (Be-Shalah, ch. 10), states “Moses chanted a song for the men; he would chant for them and they would answer him. And Miriam chanted a song for the women.” In other words, the Song on the Sea was recited twice, for the men and the women in parallel. Moses chanted the song in its entirety for the men, who answered him in refrain, and Miriam repeated this procedure for the women.

Miriam is a popular figure among some Jewish feminists. Some place a “Cup of Miriam,” filled with water, beside the customary “Cup of Elijah” (filled with wine) during the Passover Seder. The cup contains water in memory of Miriam's well, which according to a Midrash (see Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews 3, 50-54) accompanied the Israelites on their journey through the desert. Some Modern Orthodox Jews have revived a millennium-old custom of adding a piece of fish to the seder plate, with the lamb, egg and fish jointly symbolizing the three prophets referred to in Micah 6:4, and also alluding to the mythical beasts (the bird Ziz, the animal Behemoth, and the sea-creature Leviathan) which, according to Midrash, are to be served at the Seudat Chiyat HaMatim, the feast for the righteous following the resurrection of the dead, which the Passover Seder (and the Cup of Elijah) allude to. The fish represents Leviathan as well as Miriam and is also a water symbol.

Quranic account

Miriam is mentioned but not named in the Qur'an, and as in the Hebrew Bible, she obeys her mother's request to follow the baby Moses as he floats down the river in a basket, their mother having set him afloat so he would not be killed by the Pharaoh's servants and soldiers (). Later on, the wife of the Pharaoh finds Moses at the river and adopts him as her own, but Moses refuses to be suckled by her. Miriam asks the Pharaoh's wife and her handmaidens to have his own mother act as nursemaid to Moses, the mother's identity not being known to the Pharaoh's wife ().

Marriage

Josephus in ''Antiquities of the Jews'' states that Miriam was the wife of Hur, who is mentioned in Exodus as a close companion of Moses. However, in the Targum to I Chron. ii. 19, iv. 4, Miriam is said to be Hur's mother, asserting that Ephrath, the wife of Caleb, was another name for Miriam.

Snow-white Miriam

At Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses because: :''of the Cushite (Ethiopian) woman whom he had married: for he had married a Cushite woman'' Miriam and Aaron question Moses’ exclusive religious authority, since they consider themselves to also have been prophets. :'''They said, 'Was it only to Moses that God spoke? Did he not speak to us as well?'' God hears and calls all three to the door of the tabernacle. When they arrive, God states to them that Moses has a much greater authority than Miriam and Aaron; indeed, He chooses to speak to Moses face to face, rather than merely through dreams.

In anger, God subsequently visits a punishment on Miriam, giving her ''tzaraat'' turning her “white as snow.” According to the rules concerning ''tzaraat'', Miriam must then live outside of the camp, in isolation, only being allowed back when Moses intercedes with God on her behalf. Nevertheless, God insists that she still be punished for seven days. (). Tzaraat was an illness traditionally translated to be leprosy, while it really is something more like skin cancer or vitiligo.

Rabbinic Interpretation

According to the Hebrew Bible anyone with ''tzaraat'' was tamei () The Rabbis of the Talmud noted that Aaron did not receive the same punishment as his sister, otherwise he would no longer have been able to perform his duties as high priest.

Form criticism

Zipporah is identified as the wife of Moses, so the traditional Jewish and Christian view is that Zipporah is the woman that Miriam opposes. However, Zipporah is described as being a Cushite from Midian. According to Richard E. Friedman, because Cush refers to Ethiopia (Note: “Ethiopia” in ancient resources refers to the region of Nubia in modern Sudan.) or other lands well outside, the “Cushite woman” of the story is not Zipporah. Friedman, building on interpretations from the documentary hypothesis, notes that Zipporah is only mentioned in the Jahwist text, while the story of Snow-white Miriam is assigned to the Elohist, and so, in each, Moses only ever has one wife.

According to Friedman's interpretation, these two accounts reflected the stories of two different, rival priesthoods, the Aaronid priesthood in the Kingdom of Judah, which claimed descent from Aaron and which controlled the Temple in Jerusalem, and a priesthood based at Shiloh, in the Kingdom of Israel. Friedman, following the tradition of the documentary hypothesis, asserts that various Biblical tales were created or publicized by these factions in order to add an aura of legitimacy to their various claims to privilege and power. According to Friedman, the Elohist was from, or supported, the Shiloh priesthood, and thus had a strong motivation to repeat or create this tale.

References

Category:Old Testament female saints Category:Levites Category:Torah people Category:Judaism and women Category:Burials in Tiberias Category:Book of Exodus

ar:ميريام arc:ܡܪܝܡ (ܚܬܗ ܕܡܘܫܐ) ca:Míriam cs:Miriam (biblická postava) da:Mirjam de:Mirjam (Prophetin) eo:Mirjam fa:میریام fr:Myriam it:Miriam (Esodo) he:מרים הנביאה sw:Mariamu (dada wa Musa) lb:Mirjam lt:Mirjama nl:Mirjam ja:ミリアム no:Mirjam pl:Miriam (postać biblijna) pt:Miriã ru:Мириам sl:Mirjam sr:Мирјам (библија) fi:Mirjam sv:Mirjam tr:Miryam uk:Міріам (міфологія)

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Name	Paul Simon
Background	solo_singer
Origin	Newark, New Jersey, United States
Birth name	Paul Frederic Simon
Born	October 13, 1941
Genre	Folk rock, folk-pop, soft rock, world fusion
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, record producer
Years active	1957–present
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, percussion
First album	The Velvet Underground and Nico
Latest album	Surprise (album)
Label	Columbia (1964-1977, 2010-present [catalog]Warner Bros. (1978-2009)Hear Music (2010-present)
Associated acts	Simon & Garfunkel
Notable instruments	Martin OM42PS (Paul Simon) and PS2 Yamaha PS Signature Models
Website	}}

Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles charts, "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". In 1970, at the height of their popularity, the duo split, and Simon began a successful solo career, recording three highly-acclaimed albums over the next five years. In 1986, he released ''Graceland'', an album inspired by South African township music that helped fuel the anti-apartheid movement. Besides music, Simon wrote and starred in the film ''One-Trick Pony'' in 1980 and co-wrote the Broadway musical ''The Capeman'' in 1998.

Through his solo and collaborative work, Simon has earned 13 Grammys, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2006 was selected as one of the "100 People Who Shaped the World" by ''Time'' magazine. Among many other honors, Simon was named the first recipient of the Library of Congress's Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007.

Biography

Early years

Born in Newark, New Jersey to Jewish immigrant parents from Hungary. His father, Louis (1916–1995), was a professional musician who played the bass, while his mother, Belle (1910–2007), was an elementary school teacher. Having also been trained as a musician, she gave private music lessons in her spare time. In Hungary, his father was a first violinist on the main Budapest radio station.

According to Simon's biographer, Marc Eliot, his parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1930s, during a period when Jews were being persecuted throughout Europe. After relocating in the U.S., his father took on the stage name of Lee Sims, and became a regular bassist and eventually a bandleader on several radio and primetime TV shows, including the ''Arthur Godfrey'' show and ''The Jackie Gleason Show''. In 1941 his family moved to Kew Garden Hills, Queens in New York City. Simon was named after his grandfather, Paul, a tailor in Vienna, whom he never knew.

Donald Fagen, lead singer for the rock band Steely Dan, has described Simon's childhood as that of "a certain kind of New York Jew, almost a stereotype, really, to whom music and baseball are very important. I think it has to do with the parents. The parents are either immigrants or first generation Americans who felt like outsiders, and assimilation was the key thought — they gravitated to black music and baseball looking for an alternative culture." Simon, upon hearing Fagen's description, claimed it "isn't far from the truth." Simon says about his childhood, "I was a ballplayer. I'd go on my bike, and I'd hustle kids in stickball." He adds that his father was a Yankee fan:

Simon remembers the time his father first heard him singing to himself in his room, and peeked in: "That's nice, Paul. You have a nice voice." It was a turning point for the young Simon, who, notes Eliot, "idolized his father and was proud of his connection" to the music business. "The compliment was enough to make Paul think he really might want to become a singer."

Simon's musical career began at Forest Hills High School after meeting Art Garfunkel when they were both 11. They performed in a production of Alice in Wonderland for their sixth grade graduation, and began singing together when they were 13, occasionally performing at school dances. Their idols were the Everly Brothers, whom they imitated in their use of close two-part harmony. Simon also developed an interest in jazz, folk and blues, especially musical legends Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly.

Simon's first song written for himself and Garfunkel, when he was 12 or 13, was called "The Girl for Me," and according to Simon became the "neighborhood hit." His father wrote out the words and chords on paper by hand for the boys to use. That paper became the first officially copyrighted Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel song, and is now in the Library of Congress. In 1957, still in their mid-teens, they recorded the song "Hey, Schoolgirl" under the name Tom and Jerry, given to them by their label Big Records. The single reached number forty-nine on the pop charts.

After graduating from high school, Simon majored in English at Queens College, while Garfunkel studied mathematics at Columbia University in Manhattan. Simon was a brother in the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, earned a degree in English literature, and briefly attended Brooklyn Law School after graduation, but his real passion was rock and roll.

Early career

Between 1957 and 1964, Simon wrote, recorded, and released more than thirty songs, occasionally reuniting with Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry for some singles, including "Our Song" and "That's My Story". Most of the songs Simon recorded in the six years after 1957 were performed alone or with musicians other than Garfunkel. They were released on several minor record labels, such as Amy, Big, Hunt, King, Tribute, and Madison. He used several different pseudonyms for these recordings, including Jerry Landis, Paul Kane (from Orson Welles's film ''Citizen Kane'') and True Taylor. Simon enjoyed some moderate success in recording a few singles as part of a group called ''Tico and the Triumphs'', including a song called "Motorcycle" which reached No. 97 on the ''Billboard'' charts in 1962. Tico and the Triumphs released four 45s. Marty Cooper, known as Tico, sang lead on several of these releases. Bobby Susser, children's songwriter and record producer, and childhood friend of Simon's, co-produced the Tico 45s with Simon. That year, Simon reached No. 99 on the pop charts as Jerry Landis with the hit "The Lone Teen Ranger." Both chart singles were released on Amy Records.

In 1965 Simon moved to England and started touring folk clubs and coffee houses. At the first club he played, the Railway Inn Folk Club in Brentwood, Essex, he met Kathy Chitty who became his girlfriend and inspiration for "Kathy's Song", "America" and others. He performed at Les Cousins in London and toured provincial folk clubs where he was exposed to a wide range of musical influences. In 1965 he recorded his solo LP ''The Paul Simon Songbook'' in England. During his time in the UK Simon co-wrote several songs with Bruce Woodley of the Australian pop group The Seekers including "I Wish You Could Be Here," "Cloudy", and "Red Rubber Ball"; Woodley's co-author credit was omitted from "Cloudy" on the ''Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme'' album. The American group The Cyrkle recorded a cover of "Red Rubber Ball", which reached number two in the US. Simon also contributed to The Seekers catalogue with "Someday One Day," which was released in March 1966, charting at around the same time as Simon and Garfunkel's Homeward Bound.

Simon & Garfunkel

In early 1964, Simon and Garfunkel got an audition with Columbia Records, whose executive Clive Davis was impressed enough to sign the duo to a contract to produce an album. Columbia decided that the two would be called simply "Simon & Garfunkel", a replacement for the group's previous name "Tom and Jerry". Simon claimed in 2003 that this renaming as "Simon & Garfunkel" was the first time that artists' ethnic names had been used in pop music.

Simon and Garfunkel's first LP, ''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.'', was released on October 19, 1964 and consisted of twelve songs in the folk vein, five of them written by Simon. The album initially flopped, but East Coast radio stations began receiving requests for one of the tracks, Simon's "The Sounds of Silence". Their producer, Tom Wilson, overdubbed the track with electric guitar, bass, and drums, releasing it as a single that eventually went to number one on the pop charts in the USA.

Simon had gone to England in 1965 after the initial failure of ''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.'', pursuing a solo career. He returned to the United States, however, to reunite with Garfunkel after "The Sounds of Silence" had started to enjoy commercial success. Together they recorded four more influential albums: ''Sounds of Silence''; ''Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme''; ''Bookends''; and the hugely successful ''Bridge over Troubled Water''. Simon and Garfunkel also contributed extensively to the soundtrack of the Mike Nichols film ''The Graduate'' (1967), starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. While writing "Mrs. Robinson", Simon originally toyed with the title "Mrs. Roosevelt". When Garfunkel reported this indecision over the song's name to the director, Nichols replied: "Don't be ridiculous! We're making a movie here! It's Mrs. Robinson!" Simon and Garfunkel returned to England in the Fall of 1968 and did a church concert appearance at Kraft Hall, which was broadcast on the BBC, and which also featured Paul's brother Ed sitting in on a performance of the instrumental "Anji".

Simon pursued solo projects after the duo released their popular album ''Bridge over Troubled Water''. Occasionally, he and Garfunkel did reunite, such as in 1975 for their Top Ten single "My Little Town", which Simon originally wrote for Garfunkel, claiming Garfunkel's solo output was lacking "bite". The song was included on their respective solo albums: Paul Simon's ''Still Crazy After All These Years''; and Garfunkel's ''Breakaway''. Contrary to popular belief, the song is not at all autobiographical of Simon's early life in New York City. In 1981, they got together again for the famous concert in Central Park, followed by a world tour and an aborted reunion album, to have been entitled ''Think Too Much'', which was eventually released (without Garfunkel) as ''Hearts and Bones''. Together, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

In 2003, Simon and Garfunkel reunited once again when they received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. This reunion led to a U.S. tour—the acclaimed "Old Friends" concert series—followed by a 2004 international encore, which culminated in a free concert at the Colosseum in Rome. That final concert drew 600,000 people. In 2005, the pair sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with Aaron Neville in a benefit for Hurricane Katrina victims.

In 2010, the pair reunited in New Orleans for their first concert in six years, at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

1971–1976

After Simon and Garfunkel split in 1970, Simon began to write and record solo material. His eponymous album ''Paul Simon'' was released in January 1972, preceded by his first experiment with world music, the Jamaican-inspired "Mother and Child Reunion", considered one of the first examples of reggae attempted by a white musician. The single was a hit, reaching both the American and British Top 5. The album was particularly well received, with critics praising the variety of styles and the confessional lyrics, reaching No. 4 in the U.S. and No. 1 in the UK and Japan. It later spawned another Top 30 hit with "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard".

Simon's next project was the pop-folk masterpiece, ''There Goes Rhymin' Simon'', released in May 1973. It contained some of his most popular and polished recordings - the lead single, "Kodachrome", was a No. 2 hit in America, and the follow-up, the gospel-flavored "Loves Me Like a Rock" was even bigger, topping the Cashbox charts. Other songs, like the weary "American Tune" or the melancholic "Something So Right" – a tribute to Simon's first wife, Peggy – became standards in the musician's catalogue. Critical and commercial reception for this second album were even stronger than for his debut. At the time, it was remarked how the songs were very fresh and unworried on the surface while they were exploring socially and politically conscious themes on a deeper level. The album reached No. 1 on the Cashbox album charts. As a souvenir for the tour that came next, in 1974 it was released as a live album, ''Live Rhymin''', which was moderately successful and displayed some changes in Simon's music style, adopting world and religious music.

Highly anticipated, ''Still Crazy After All These Years'' was his next album. Released in October 1975 and produced by Simon and Phil Ramone, it marked another departure. The mood of the album was darker, as he wrote and recorded it in the wake of his divorce. Preceded by the feel-good duet with Phoebe Snow, "Gone at Last" (a Top 25 hit) and the Simon & Garfunkel reunion track "My Little Town" (a No. 9 on Billboard), the album managed to be his only No. 1 on the Billboard charts to date. The 18th Grammy Awards named it the Album of the Year and Simon's performance the year's Best Male Pop Vocal. With Simon in the forefront of popular music, the third single from the album, "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" reached the top spot of the Billboard charts, his only single to reach No. 1 on this list. Also, on May 3, 1976, Simon put together a benefit show at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the New York Public Library. Phoebe Snow, Jimmy Cliff and the Brecker Brothers also performed. The concert produced over $30,000 for the Library.

1977–1985

After three back-to-back successful studio albums, Simon became less productive during the second half of the 1970s. He dabbled in various projects, including writing music for the film ''Shampoo'' and acting (he was cast as Tony Lacey in Woody Allen's film ''Annie Hall''). He achieved another hit in this decade, with the lead single of his 1977 compilation, ''Greatest Hits, Etc.'', "Slip Slidin' Away", reaching No. 5 in the United States.

In 1980 he released ''One Trick Pony'', his debut album with Warner Bros. Records and his first in almost five years. It was paired with the motion picture of the same name, which Simon wrote and starred in. Although it produced his last Top 10 hit with the upbeat "Late in the Evening" (also a No. 1 hit on the Radio & Records American charts), the album did not sell well, in a music market dominated by disco music. Simon recorded ''Hearts and Bones'', a polished and confessional album that was eventually viewed as one of his best works, but that marked a lull in his commercial popularity; both the album and the lead single, "Allergies", missed the American Top 40. ''Hearts and Bones'' included "The Late Great Johnny Ace", a song partly about Johnny Ace, an American R&B; singer, and partly about slain Beatle John Lennon. A successful US solo tour featured Simon and his guitar, with a recording of the rhythm track and horns for "Late In The Evening." In January 1985, Simon lent his talent to USA for Africa and performed on the relief fundraising single "We Are the World".

1986–1992

As he commented years later, after the disappointing commercial performance of ''Hearts and Bones,'' Simon felt he had lost his inspiration to a point of no return, and that his commercial fortunes were unlikely to change. While driving his car in late 1984 in this state of frustration, Simon listened to a cassette of the Boyoyo Boys' instrumental "Gumboots: Accordion Jive Volume II". Interested by the unusual sound, he wrote lyrics to the number which he sang over a re-recording of the song. It was the first composition of a new musical project that became the celebrated album ''Graceland'', an eclectic mixture of musical styles including pop, a cappella, isicathamiya, rock, and mbaqanga. Simon felt that he had nothing to lose. He traveled to South Africa in an attempt to embrace the culture and find the most comfortable environment for recording the album. Sessions in Johannesburg took place in February 1985. Overdubbing and additional recording was done in April, 1986, in New York. The sessions featured many South African musicians and groups, particularly Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Simon also collaborated with several artists of his own culture, singing a memorable duet with Linda Ronstadt in "Under African Skies", and playing with Los Lobos in "All Around the World or The Myth of the Fingerprints". Warner Bros. Records had serious doubts about releasing an album of this eclecticism to the mainstream, but when it did in August 1986, ''Graceland'' was praised by critics and the public and became Simon's most successful solo album. Slowly climbing the worldwide charts, it reached #1 in many countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and peaked at #3 in the U.S. It was the second-best-selling album of 1987 in the U.S., selling five million copies and eventually reaching 5x Platinum certification. Another seven million copies were sold internationally to become his best-selling album. Much of the success of the album was due to the lead single, the upbeat "You Can Call Me Al", whose lyrics describe a man experiencing an identity crisis. The track featured many memorable elements – a catchy synthesizer riff, an easy whistle solo, and an unusual bass run in which the second half was a reversed recording of the first half. "You Can Call Me Al" was accompanied with a humorous video featuring actor Chevy Chase, which introduced Simon to a new audience through MTV. In the end, the track reached UK Top 5 and the U.S. Top 25. Further singles, including the title track, "The Boy in the Bubble" and "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", were not commercial hits but became radio standards and were highly praised.

At age 45, Simon found himself back at the forefront of popular music. He received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1987 and also Grammy Award for Record of the Year for the title track one year later. He also embarked on the very successful ''Graceland Tour'', which was documented on music video. Simon found himself embracing new sounds, a fact that some critics viewed negatively – however, Simon reportedly felt it as a very natural artistic experiment, considering that "world music" was already present on much of his early work, including such Simon & Garfunkel hits as "El Condor Pasa" and his early solo recording "Mother and Child Reunion", which was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica. One way or another, Warner Bros. Records (who by this time now controlled and reissued all his previous Columbia albums) re-established Simon as one of their most successful artists. In an attempt to capitalize on his renewed success, WB Records released the album ''Negotiations and Love Songs'' in November 1988, a mixture of popular hits and personal favorites that covered Simon's entire career and became an enduring seller in his catalog.

After ''Graceland'', Simon decided to extend his roots with the Brazilian music-flavored ''The Rhythm of the Saints''. Sessions for the album began in December 1989, and took place in Rio de Janeiro and New York, featuring guitarist J. J. Cale and many Brazilian and African musicians. The tone of the album was more introspective and relatively low-key compared to the mostly upbeat numbers of ''Graceland''. Released on October 1990, the album received excellent critical reviews and achieved very respectable sales, peaking at #4 in the U.S. and No. 1 in the UK. The lead single, "The Obvious Child", featuring the Grupo Cultural Olodum, was a Top 20 hit in the UK and appeared near the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100. Although not as successful as ''Graceland'', ''The Rhythm of the Saints'' was received as a competent successor and consistent complement on Simon's attempts to explore (and popularize) world music, and also received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Here are also more songs about past loves; his ex-wife Carrie Fisher says in her autobiography ''Wishful Drinking'' that the song "She Moves On" is about her. It's one of several she claims, followed by the line, "If you can get Paul Simon to write a song about you, do it. Because he is so brilliant at it."

The importance of both albums allowed Simon to stage another New York concert, and on August 15, 1991, almost a decade after his concert with Garfunkel, Simon staged another concert in Central Park with both African and South American bands. The success of the concert surpassed all expectations, and reportedly over 750,000 people attended, becoming one of the largest concert audiences in history. He later remembered the concert as the "most memorable moment in my career". The success of the show led to both a live album and an Emmy-winning TV special. In the middle, Simon embarked on the successful ''Born at the Right Time Tour'' and promoted the album with further singles, including "Proof" – accompanied with a humorous video featuring, again, Chevy Chase. On March 4, 1992 he appeared on his own MTV Unplugged, offering renditions of many of his most famous compositions. Broadcast in June, the show was a success, though it did not receive an album release.

1993–1998

After ''Unplugged'', Simon's place in the forefront of popular music dropped notably. A Simon & Garfunkel reunion took place in 1993, and in another attempt to capitalize on the occasion, Columbia released ''Paul Simon 1964/1993'' in September, a three-disc compilation that received a reduced version on the two-disc album ''The Paul Simon Anthology'' one month later. In 1995 he only made news for appearing at The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he performed the song "Ten Years", which he composed specially for the tenth anniversary of the show. Also that year, he was featured on the Annie Lennox version of his 1973 song "Something So Right", which appeared briefly on the UK Top 50 once it was released as a single in November.

Since the early stages of the nineties, Simon was fully involved on ''The Capeman'', a musical that finally opened on January 29, 1998. Simon worked enthusiastically on the project for many years and described it as "a New York Puerto Rican story based on events that happened in 1959—events that I remembered." The musical tells the story of real-life Puerto Rican youth Salvador Agron, who wore a cape while committing two murders in 1959 New York, and who went on to become a writer in prison. Featuring Marc Anthony as the young Agron and Ruben Blades as the older Agron, the play received terrible reviews and very poor box office receipts from the very beginning, and ended up closing on March 28 after just 68 performances, becoming a failure from which Simon reportedly lost 11 million dollars. Simon recorded an album of songs from the show, which was released in November 1997. It was received with very mixed reviews, though many critics praised the combination of doo-wop, rockabilly and Caribbean music that the album reflected. In commercial terms, ''Songs from The Capeman'' was a failure—it found Simon missing the Top 40 of the Billboard charts for the first time in his career. The cast album was never released on CD but eventually became available online.

1999–2007

After the disaster of ''The Capeman'', Simon's career was again in an unexpected crisis. However, entering the new millennium he maintained a respectable reputation, offering critically acclaimed new material and receiving commercial attention. In 1999, Simon embarked on a North American tour with Bob Dylan where each alternated as headline act with a "middle" section where they performed together, starting on the first of June and ending September 18. The collaboration was generally well-received, with just one critic, Seth Rogovoy, from the ''Berkshire Eagle'', questioning the collaboration.

In an attempt to return successfully to the music market, Simon wrote and recorded a new album very quickly, with ''You're the One'' arriving in October 2000. The album consisted mostly of folk-pop writing combined with foreign musical sounds, particularly grooves from North Africa. While not reaching the commercial heights of previous albums, it managed at least to reach both the British and American Top 20. It received favorable reviews and received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. He toured extensively for the album, and one performance in Paris was released to home video.

On September 21, 2001, Simon sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on "America: A Tribute to Heroes", a multinetwork broadcast to benefit the September 11 Telethon Fund. In 2002, he wrote and recorded "Father and Daughter", the theme song for the animated children's movie ''The Wild Thornberrys Movie'', The track was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. In 2003, he participed on another Simon & Garfunkel reunion. One year later, Simon's studio albums were re-released both individually and together in a limited-edition nine-CD boxed set, ''Paul Simon: The Studio Recordings 1972-2000''.

At the time, Simon was already working on a new album with Brian Eno called ''Surprise'', which was released in May 2006. Most of the album was inspired by the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq invasion and the war that followed. In personal terms, Simon was also inspired by the fact of being over 60 years old, an age that he turned in 2001 and that he humorously referred already on his single "Old" from the ''You're the One''. Simon showed special care about the musical venture he traveled since 1986's ''Graceland.'' As he put it, "Once you go away for a bit, you wonder who people think you are. If they don't know what you're up to, they just go by your history. I'm so often described as this person that went to other cultures, which is true, but I never thought of it that way. I suspect people are thinking, 'What culture did you go to?' But this record is straight-ahead American." ''Surprise'' was a commercial hit, reaching #14 in the Billboard 200 and #4 in the UK. Most critics also praised the album, and many of them called it a real "comeback" for the artist. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic paid attention to the attempts of Simon in embracing his classic folk sound with Eno's electronic textures, and wrote that "Simon doesn't achieve his comeback by reconnecting with the sound and spirit of his classic work; he has achieved it by being as restless and ambitious as he was at his popular and creative peak, which makes ''Surprise'' all the more remarkable." The album was supported with the successful ''Surprise Tour''.

On March 1, 2007, Simon made headlines again when he was announced as the first recipient of the recently-created Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The Prize, created by the Library of Congress, was awarded to Simon during a Concert Gala featuring his music at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., on the evening of May 23. The event was nationally broadcast on PBS on the evening of June 27, 2007. Performers at the concert included Shawn Colvin, Philip Glass, Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Lyle Lovett, James Taylor, and Stevie Wonder as well as Simon's former collaborator Art Garfunkel. On June 26, Warner Bros. released the definitive Paul Simon greatest-hits collection. ''The Essential Paul Simon'' consisted of two discs that reviewed 36 songs from his ten studio albums, and was also released on a special edition featuring a DVD of music videos and memorable live performances. The album was a commercial hit, reaching #12 in the UK.

2008–2011

Paul Simon resides in New Canaan, Connecticut. He is one of a small number of performers who are named as the copyright owner on their recordings (most records have the recording company as the named owner of the recording). This noteworthy development was spearheaded by the Bee Gees after their successful $200 million lawsuit against RSO Records, which remains to this day the largest successful lawsuit against a record company by an artist or group.

All of Simon's solo recordings, even the ones originally issued by Columbia Records, are currently distributed by Sony Records' Legacy Recordings unit. His recordings were issued by Warner Music until mid-2010.

In February 2009, Simon performed back-to-back shows in his native New York City at the Beacon Theatre, which had recently been renovated. Simon was reunited with Art Garfunkel at the first show as well as with the cast of ''The Capeman''; also playing in the band was ''Graceland'' bassist Bakithi Kumalo.

In May 2009, Simon toured with Art Garfunkel in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

In October 2009, Simon appeared alongside Art Garfunkel at the 25th Anniversary of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The pair performed four of their most popular songs, "The Sounds of Silence", "The Boxer", "Cecilia", and "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

On April 21, 2010 it was announced that Paul Simon would be an honorary degree recipient at the Brandeis University Commencement ceremony to be held on May 23, 2010. Due to student interest expressed through Facebook, Simon performed "The Boxer" at the 59th Commencement Exercises at the University.

In mid-2010, Simon moved his catalogue of solo work from Warner Bros. Records to Sony/Columbia Records where Simon and Garfunkel's catalogue is. Simon's back catalogue of solo recordings would be marketed by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings unit.

Simon's latest album entitled ''So Beautiful or So What'', was released on the Concord Music Group label on April 12, 2011. The bluegrass-influenced album received high marks from the artist, "It's the best work I've done in 20 years." It was reported that Paul Simon attempted to have Bob Dylan guest on the album.

Simon released a new Christmas song called "Getting Ready for Christmas Day". It premiered on National Public Radio on November 16, 2010, and will be on the forthcoming SBOSW album. The song samples a 1941 sermon by the Rev. J.M. Gates, also entitled "Getting Ready for Christmas Day". Simon performed the song live on ''The Colbert Report'' on December 16, 2010. The song is available for free download or viewing with two videos at www.paulsimon.com. The first video features J.M. Gates' giving the sermon and his church in 2010 with its display board showing many of Simon's lyrics; the second video illustrates the song with cartoon images.

In the premiere show of the final season of ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' on September 10, 2010, Simon surprised Oprah and the audience with a song dedicated to Oprah and her show lasting 25 years (an update of a song he did for her show's 10th anniversary).

Rounding off his 2011 World Tour, which included U.S.A, England, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany, Simon appeared at Ramat Gan Stadium in Israel in July 2011, making his first concert appearance in Israel since 1983.

Projects

Music for Broadway

In the late 1990s, Simon wrote and produced a Broadway musical called ''The Capeman'', which lost $11 million during its 1998 run. In April 2008, the Brooklyn Academy of Music celebrated Paul Simon's works, and dedicated a week to ''Songs From the Capeman'' with a good portion of the show's songs performed by a cast of singers and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Simon himself appeared during the BAM shows, performing "Trailways Bus" and "Late In the Evening".

Film and television

Simon has also dabbled in acting. He played music producer Tony Lacey in the 1977 Woody Allen film ''Annie Hall'', and wrote and starred in 1980's ''One Trick Pony'' as Jonah Levin, a journeyman rock and roller. Simon also wrote all the songs in the film. Paul Simon also appeared on ''The Muppet Show'' (the only episode to use only the songs of one songwriter, Simon). In 1990, he played the character of—appropriately enough—Simple Simon on the Disney channel TV movie, ''Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme''.

Simon has also appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') either as host or musical guest for a total of 13 times. On one appearance in the late 1980s, he worked with his political namesake, Illinois Senator Paul Simon. Simon's most recent ''SNL'' appearance was on the May 14, 2011 episode hosted by Ed Helms.

In one ''SNL'' skit from 1986 (when he was promoting ''Graceland''), Simon plays himself, waiting in line with a friend to get into a movie. He amazes his friend by remembering intricate details about prior meetings with passers-by, but draws a complete blank when approached by Art Garfunkel, despite the latter's numerous memory prompts.

Simon also appeared alongside George Harrison as musical guest on the Thanksgiving Day episode of ''SNL'' (November 20, 1976). The two performed "Here Comes the Sun" and "Homeward Bound"" together, while Simon performed "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" solo earlier in the show. On that episode, Simon opened the show performing "Still Crazy After All These Years" in a turkey outfit, since Thanksgiving was the following week. About halfway through the song, Simon tells the band to stop playing because of his embarrassment. After giving a frustrating speech to the audience, he leaves the stage, backed by applause. Lorne Michaels positively greets him backstage, but Simon is still upset, yelling at him because of the humiliating turkey outfit. This is one of ''SNL'''s most played sketches.

On September 29, 2001, Simon made a special appearance on the first ''SNL'' to air after the September 11, 2001 attacks. On that show, he performed "The Boxer" to the audience and the NYC firefighters and police officers. He is also friends with former ''SNL'' star Chevy Chase, who appeared in his video for "You Can Call Me Al" lip synching the song while Simon looks disgruntled and mimes backing vocals and the playing of various instruments beside him. He is a close friend of ''SNL'' producer Lorne Michaels, who produced the 1977 TV show ''The Paul Simon Special'', as well as the Simon and Garfunkel concert in Central Park four years later. Simon and Lorne Michaels were the subjects of a 2006 episode of the Sundance channel documentary series, ''Iconoclasts''.

He has been the subject of two films by Jeremy Marre, the first on ''Graceland'', the second on ''The Capeman''.

On November 18, 2008, Simon was a guest on ''The Colbert Report'' promoting his book ''Lyrics 1964-2008''. He did an interview with Stephen Colbert and then performed "American Tune".

Simon performed a Stevie Wonder song at the White House in 2009, at an event honoring Wonder's musical career and contributions.

In May 2009, ''The Library of Congress: Paul Simon and Friends Live Concert'' was released on DVD, via Shout! Factory. The PBS concert was recorded in 2007.

In April 2011 Simon was confirmed to appear at the Glastonbury music festival in England.

Awards and honors

Simon won 12 Grammy Awards (one of them a Lifetime Achievement Award) and five Grammy nominations, the most recent for his album ''You're the One'' in 2001. In 1998 he received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for the Simon & Garfunkel album ''Bridge over Troubled Water''. He received an Oscar nomination for the song "Father and Daughter" in 2002. He is also a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; as a solo artist in 2001, and in 1990 as half of Simon & Garfunkel.

In 2001, Simon was honored as MusiCares Person Of The Year. The following year, he was one of the five recipients of the annual Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest tribute to performing and cultural artists.

In 2005, Simon was saluted as a BMI Icon at the 53rd Annual BMI Pop Awards. Simon's songwriting catalog has earned 39 BMI Awards including multiple citations for "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Mrs. Robinson," "Scarborough Fair" and "The Sound of Silence". As of 2005, he has amassed nearly 75 million broadcast airplays, according to BMI surveys.

In 2006, Simon was selected by ''Time Magazine'' as one of the "100 People Who Shaped the World."

In 2007, Simon received the first annual Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007. Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney were to follow in 2009 and 2010. Named in honor of George and Ira Gershwin, this newly created award recognizes the profound and positive effect of popular music on the world’s culture. Upon being notified of receiving this honor, Simon said, “I am grateful to be the recipient of the Gershwin Prize and doubly honored to be the first. I look forward to spending an evening in the company of artists I admire at the award ceremony in May. I can think of a few who have expressed my words and music far better than I. I’m excited at the prospect of that happening again. It’s a songwriter’s dream come true." Among the performers who paid tribute to Simon were Stevie Wonder, Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Lyle Lovett, James Taylor, Dianne Reeves, Marc Anthony, Yolanda Adams, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The event was professionally filmed and broadcast and is now available as ''Paul Simon and Friends''.

In 2010, Simon received an honorary degree from Brandeis University, where he also performed "The Boxer" at the main commencement ceremony.

Personal life

When Simon moved to England in 1964 he met Kathleen Mary "Kathy" Chitty (born 1947) on 12 April 1964 at the very first English folk club he played, the Railway Inn Folk Club in Brentwood, Essex, where Chitty was working part-time selling tickets. She was 17, he was 22 and they fell in love. Later that year they visited the US together, touring around mainly by bus. Kathy returned to England on her own with Simon returning to her some weeks later. When Simon returned to the US with the growing success of "The Sound of Silence" Kathy (who was quite shy) wanted no part of the success and fame that awaited Simon and they split up. She is mentioned by name in at least two of his songs: Kathy's Song and America, and is referred to in Homeward Bound and The Late Great Johnny Ace. There is a photo of Simon and Kathy on the cover of The Paul Simon Song Book.

Simon has been married three times, first to Peggy Harper in late autumn 1969. They had a son, Harper Simon, in 1972 and divorced in 1975. The song "Train in the Distance," from Simon's 1983 album, is about this relationship. Simon's 1972 song "Run That Body Down," from his debut solo album, casually mentions both himself and his then-wife ("Peg") by name.

His second marriage, from 1983 to 1984, was to actress and author Carrie Fisher to whom he proposed after a New York Yankees game. (The song "Hearts and Bones" was written about this relationship. The song "Graceland" is also thought to be about seeking solace from the end of this relationship by taking a road trip). A year after divorcing, Simon and Fisher resumed their relationship for several years.

He married folk singer Edie Brickell on May 30, 1992. They have three children together, Adrian, Lulu, and Gabriel.

Philanthropy

Simon is a proponent of music education for children. In 1970, after recording his "Bridge Over Troubled Water," at the invitation of the NYU School of the Arts, Simon held auditions for a young songwriter's workshop. Advertised in the Village Voice, the auditions brought hundreds of hopefuls to perform for Simon. Among the six teenage songwriters Simon selected for tutelage were Melissa Manchester, Tom Mandell and rock/beat poet Joe Linus, with Maggie and Terre Roche (the Roche Sisters), who later sang back-up for Simon, joining the workshop in progress through an impromptu appearance.

Simon invited the six teens to experience recording at Columbia studios with engineer Roy Halee at the board. During these sessions, Bob Dylan was downstairs recording the album ''Self-Portrait'', which included a version of Simon's "The Boxer". Violinist Isaac Stern also visited the group with a CBS film crew, speaking to the young musicians about lyrics and music after Joe Linus performed his song "Circus Lion" for Stern.

Manchester later paid homage to Simon, on her recorded song, "Ode to Paul." Other younger musicians Simon has mentored include Nick Laird-Clowes, who later co-founded the band The Dream Academy. Laird-Clowes has credited Simon with helping to shape the band's biggest hit, "Life In A Northern Town".

However in 1971 Simon, as a jury-member of the Rio de Janeiro song contest, did not give any points to the 15-year-old Marianne Rosenberg, an ethnic Sinti (Gypsy) and child of an Auschwitz survivor, because she represented Germany.

In 2003, Simon signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S. He sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.

Simon is also a major benefactor and one of the co-founders, with Dr. Irwin Redlener, of the Children's Health Project and The Children's Health Fund which started by creating specially equipped "buses" to take medical care to children in medically underserved areas, urban and rural. Their first bus was in the impoverished South Bronx of New York City but they now operate in 12 states, including the Gulf Coast. It has expanded greatly, partnering with major hospitals, local public schools and medical schools and advocating policy for children's health and medical care.

Guitars

Martin Paul Simon Signature PS2

Martin Paul Simon Signature OM42

Martin D-28 Acoustic

Martin D-42 6/12 String Acoustics

Yamaha Paul Simon Signature Model Acoustic

Yamaha FG700S

Yamaha FG730S

Yamaha FX300C

Yamaha F30BL

Yamaha F40BL

Yamaha GCX31C

Taylor PS10

Taylor 114

Taylor 210

Taylor 214

Takamine TC132SC Classical

Fender Stratocaster

Fender Jaguar

Fender Acoustic Guitars

Gear

Dunlop Paul Simon Picks Accessories

Dunlop String Accessories

Fender String Accessories

Discography

Number-one albums

1972 – ''Paul Simon'' (UK, Japan, Norway)

1973 – ''There Goes Rhymin' Simon'' (US Cashbox)

1975 – ''Still Crazy After All These Years'' (US)

1986 – ''Graceland'' (UK, Australia, Canada, Switzerland)

1990 – ''The Rhythm of the Saints'' (UK)

Work on Broadway

''Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years'' (1982) - revue - featured songwriter for Mrs. Robinson

''Asinamali!'' (1987) - play - co-producer

''Mike Nichols and Elaine May: Together Again on Broadway'' (1992) - concert - performer

''The Capeman'' (1998) - composer, co-lyricist and music arranger - Tony Nomination for Best Original Score

''The Graduate'' (2002) - play - featured songwriter

See also

List of songs written by Paul Simon

References

External links

Official website for Paul Simon

The neck of my guitar - reliable and up-to-date source

Simply Simon French website

A site devoted to Paul Simon

Paul Simon at PBS

Detailed Paul Simon site

Paul Simon at bmi.com

Category:1941 births Category:American buskers Category:American composers Category:American folk guitarists Category:American acoustic guitarists Category:American pop guitarists Category:Folk rock musicians Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Emmy Award winners Category:World music musicians Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:MusiCares Person of the Year Honorees Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New Jersey Category:People from Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:People from Newark, New Jersey Category:People from Queens Category:Queens College, City University of New York alumni Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:Simon & Garfunkel members

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
name	Nina Simone
background	solo_singer
birth name	Eunice Kathleen Waymon
birth date	February 21, 1933
Birth place	Tryon, North Carolina, United States
death date	April 21, 2003
Death place	Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
genre	Jazz, blues, R&B;, folk, gospel
occupation	Singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, activist
years active	1954–2003
label	Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA Victor, CTI, Legacy Recordings
website	http://www.ninasimone.com/ }}

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B;, gospel, and pop.

Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist as a child. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black. She then began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education to become a classical pianist and was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendition of "I Loves You Porgy" became a smash hit in the United States in 1958. and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic low tenor. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical. Her intuitive grasp on the audience-performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years.

After 20 years of performing, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once again.

Biography

Youth (1933–1954)

Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina. The sixth of eight children in a poor family, she began playing piano at age three; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the instrument, she performed at her local church, but her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was twelve. Simone later said that during this performance her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone said she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, and that the incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.

Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a strict Methodist minister and a housemaid. Simone's father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who at one time owned a dry cleaning business, but who also suffered bouts of ill health. Mary Kate's employer, hearing of her daughter's talent, provided funds for piano lessons. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Simone's continued education. With the assistance of this scholarship money she attended high school.

After finishing high school, she had studied for an interview with the help of a private tutor to study piano further at the Curtis Institute, but she was rejected. Simone believed that this rejection was related directly to her race. Simone then moved to New York City, where she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.

Early success (1954–1959)

To fund her private lessons, Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano. In 1954 she adopted the stage name Nina Simone. "Nina" (from niña, meaning 'little girl' in Spanish) was a nickname a boyfriend had given to her, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the movie ''Casque d'or''. Simone's mixture of jazz, blues, and classical music in her performances at the bar earned her a small, but loyal, fan base.

In 1958, she befriended and married Don Ross, a beatnik who worked as a fairground barker, but quickly regretted their marriage. After playing in small clubs, in 1958 she recorded a rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (from ''Porgy and Bess''), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only ''Billboard'' top 40 success in the United States, and her debut album ''Little Girl Blue'' soon followed on Bethlehem Records. Simone missed out on more than $1 million in royalties (mainly because of the successful re-release of ''My Baby Just Cares for Me'' during the 1980s) and never benefited financially from the album, because she had sold her rights to it for $3,000.

Becoming popular (1959–1964)

After the success of ''Little Girl Blue'', Simone signed a contract with Colpix Records, and recorded a string of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control to her, including the choice of material that would be recorded, in exchange for her signing the contract with them. At this point, Simone only performed pop music to make money to continue her classical music studies, and was indifferent about having a recording contract. She kept this attitude toward the record industry for most of her career.

Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in 1961; Stroud later became her manager.

Civil rights era (1964–1974)

In 1964, she changed record distributors, from the American Colpix to the Dutch Philips, which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings. Simone had always included songs in her repertoire that drew upon her African-American origins (such as "Brown Baby" and "Zungo" on ''Nina at the Village Gate'' in 1962). On her debut album for Philips, ''Nina Simone In Concert'' (live recording, 1964), however, Simone for the first time openly addressed the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song "Mississippi Goddam", her response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four black children. The song was released as a single, and it was boycotted in certain southern states. "Old Jim Crow", on the same album, addressed the Jim Crow Laws.

From then on, a civil rights message was standard in Simone's recording repertoire, becoming a part of her live performances. Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period, rather than Martin Luther King's non-violent approach, and she hoped that African Americans could, by armed combat, form a separate state. Nevertheless, she wrote in her autobiography that she and her family regarded all races as equal.

She covered Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", a song about the lynching of black men in the South, on ''Pastel Blues'' (1965). She also sang the W. Cuney poem "Images" on ''Let It All Out'' (1966), about the absence of pride she saw among African-American women. Simone wrote "Four Women", a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women, and included the recording on her 1966 album ''Wild Is the Wind''.

Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor during 1967. She sang "Backlash Blues", written by her friend Langston Hughes on her first RCA album, ''Nina Simone Sings The Blues'' (1967). On ''Silk & Soul'' (1967), she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album ''Nuff Said'' (1968) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor, directly after the news of King's death had reached them. In the summer of 1969 she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park.

Together with Weldon Irvine, Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry's unfinished play ''To Be Young, Gifted, and Black'' into a civil rights song. Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album ''Black Gold'' (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin (on her 1972 album ''Young, Gifted and Black'') and by Donny Hathaway.

Later life (1974–2003)

Simone left the United States in September 1970, flying to Barbados and expecting Stroud to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance, and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring, as an indication of a desire for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was in charge of Simone's income.

When Simone returned to the United States she learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for unpaid taxes (as a protest against her country's involvement with the Vietnam War), causing her to return to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time and she had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, then persuaded her to go to Liberia. After that she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands, before settling in France during 1992.

She recorded her last album for RCA, ''It Is Finished'', during 1974. Simone did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the recording studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album ''Baltimore'', which, while not a commercial success, did get good reviews and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later Simone recorded ''Fodder On My Wings'' on a French label. During the 1980s Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London, where she recorded the album ''Live at Ronnie Scott's'' in 1984. Although her early on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences sometimes by recounting humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and by soliciting requests. In 1987, the original 1958 recording of "My Baby Just Cares For Me" was used in a commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume in the United Kingdom. This led to a re-release of the recording, which stormed to number 4 on the UK's ''NME'' singles chart, giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK. Her autobiography, ''I Put a Spell on You'', was published in 1992. She recorded her last album, ''A Single Woman'', in 1993.

In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. She had suffered from breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône on April 21, 2003. (In addition, Simone received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the late 1980s). Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti Labelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actor Ossie Davis, and hundreds of others. Elton John sent a floral tribute with the message "You were the greatest and I love you". Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud, an actress and singer, who took the stage name Simone, and has appeared on Broadway in ''Aida''.

Musical style

Simone standards

Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire. These songs were self-written tunes, tributes to works by others with a new arrangement by Simone, or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart. During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, when it was featured in a Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was created by Aardman Studios for the commercial. !!DON'T put detailed cover/sample/soundtrack use of songs here, only the very basics. Put that sort of information on the ARTICLE ABOUT THE SONG OR ALBUM!! Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on ''Broadway-Blues-Ballads'' (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song) and "Feeling Good" on ''I Put A Spell On You'' (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on ''Wild is the Wind'' (1966). Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good", and "Sinnerman" (''Pastel Blues'', 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinnerman", in particular, has been featured in the TV series ''Scrubs'', ''Person of Interest'', and ''Sherlock'', and on movies such as ''The Thomas Crown Affair'', ''Miami Vice'', and ''Inland Empire'', and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album ''Finding Forever'', and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album ''Tha Carter III''. The song "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album ''808s and Heartbreak''.

Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical ''Hair'' from the album '''Nuff Said!'' (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 4 on the UK pop charts and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees' rendition of "To Love Somebody" also reached the UK top 10 in 1969. "House of the Rising Sun" was featured on ''Nina Simone Sings The Blues'' in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on ''Nina At The Village Gate'' (1962), predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan. It was later covered by The Animals, for whom it became a signature hit.

Performing style

Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "High Priestess of Soul". She was a piano player, singer, and performer, "separately and simultaneously". On stage, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, to numbers with European classical styling, and Bach-style fugal counterpoint. She incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. Simone compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time". Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman.

Simone had a reputation in the music industry for her volatility. In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with a pneumatic pistol after his laughter disturbed her concentration. She also fired a gun at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties. According to a biographer, Simone took medication for a condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography ''Break Down And Let It All Out'' written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this in 2004 after her death.

Legacy and influence

Music

Musicians who have cited Simone as important for their own musical upbringing include Antony and the Johnsons, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, Christina Aguilera, Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, Lena Horne, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Anna Calvi, Peter Gabriel, Maynard James Keenan, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Michael Gira, Angela McCluskey, Lauryn Hill, Patrice Babatunde, Alicia Keys, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr. "Krucial", Amanda Palmer, Steve Adey and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of ''"I Put a Spell on You"'' as a source of inspiration for the Beatles song ''"Michelle"''. Musicians who have covered her work (or her specific renditions of songs) include Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, J.Viewz, Carola, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Marilyn Manson, Donny Hathaway, David Bowie, Elkie Brooks, Roberta Flack, Jeff Buckley, Kimbra, The Animals, Nick Cave, Shivaree (band), Ambrosia Parsley, Muse, Cat Power, Katie Melua, Timbaland, Feist, Shara Worden, Common, Lil Wayne, and Michael Bublé. Simone's music has been featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including but not limited to, ''The Big Lebowski'' (1998), ''Point of No Return'' (AKA ''The Assassin'', 1993), ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Any Given Sunday'' (1999), ''The Thomas Crown Affair'' (1999), ''Six Feet Under'' (2001), ''The Dancer Upstairs (film)'' (2002), ''Before Sunset'' (2004), ''Cellular'' (2004), ''Inland Empire'' (2006), ''Sex and the City'' (2008), ''The World Unseen'' (2008), ''Revolutionary Road'' (2008), ''Watchmen'' (2009), ''The Saboteur'' (2009), ''Repo Men'' (2010). Frequently her music is used in remixes, commercials, and TV series including Feelin' Good featured prominently in the Season Four Promo of Six Feet Under, 2004.

Film

The documentary ''Nina Simone: La Legende'' (''The Legend'') was made in the 1990s by French filmmakers, based on her autobiography ''I Put A Spell On You''. It features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone then living in the Netherlands, and while on a trip to her birthplace. A portion of footage from ''The Legend'' was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and entitled simply, ''Nina''.

Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and it is screened annually in New York City at an event called, "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976,", which is curated by Tom Blunt.

Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005, to be based on Simone's autobiography ''I Put A Spell On You'' (1992) and to focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006. TV writer Cynthia Mort (''Will & Grace'', ''Roseanne'') is working on the script, and singer Mary J. Blige will play the lead role. Release of the movie is scheduled for 2012.

Her song "Sinnerman" was used in the 1999 film "The Thomas Crown Affair" as well as the award winning documentary "Sharkwater" by Rob Stewart in 2007.

Her song "I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good" was used in the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski"

Her music was used in the S4C show, "Alys", in 2010.

A song sung by Nina Simone on her 1970 live album, ''Black Gold'', is used in the film ''The Dancer Upstairs''.

In the film ''Point of No Return'', the protagonist choses "Nina" as her codename in honor of Simone, her mother's favorite musical artist as well as her own. Simone's music features prominently in the film.

The final scene of the film Before Sunset involves the protagonists discussing and playing a Nina Simone CD, with one of them singing along with "Just in Time" while imitating the performer's stage moves.

Honors

On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Nina Simone. Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities, from the University of Massachusetts and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the music school that had refused to admit her as a student at the beginning of her career. In 2010, Tryon, NC erected a statue in her honor along Trade street.

Discography

! Year	! Album	! Type	! Label	! Billboard
1958		Studio
	'' Nina Simone and Her Friends ''	Studio
'' The Amazing Nina Simone ''	Studio
'' Nina Simone at Town Hall ''	Live and studio
	'' Nina Simone at Newport ''	Live
	Studio
	'' Nina at the Village Gate ''	Live
'' Nina Simone Sings Ellington ''	Live
	'' Nina's Choice ''	Compilation
'' Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall ''	Live
	'' Folksy Nina ''	Live
'' Nina Simone in Concert ''	Live
'' Broadway-Blues-Ballads ''	Studio
		Studio
'' Pastel Blues ''	Studio
	'' Nina Simone with Strings ''	Studio (strings added)	Colpix
'' Let It All Out ''	Live and studio
	Studio
	'' High Priestess of Soul ''	Studio
'' Nina Simone Sings the Blues ''	Studio
'' Silk & Soul ''	Studio
1968	'' Nuff Said ''	Live and studio
	'' Nina Simone and Piano ''	Studio
	Studio
''A Very Rare Evening''	Live	PM Records
1970		Live	RCA Records
		Studio	RCA Records
''Gifted & Black''	Studio	Canyon Records
1972		Live and studio	RCA Records
	''Live at Berkeley''	Live	Stroud
''Gospel According to Nina Simone''	Live	Stroud
	'' It Is Finished ''	Live	RCA Records
''Sings Billie Holiday''	Live	Stroud
1978		Studio	CTI Records
1980	'' The Rising Sun Collection ''	Live	Enja
1982	'' Fodder on My Wings ''	Studio
1984	'' Backlash ''	Live	StarJazz
1985	'' Nina's Back ''	Studio
1985	'' Live & Kickin ''	Live
	'' Let It Be Me ''	Live
	Live	Hendring-Wadham
'' The Nina Simone Collection ''	Compilation	Deja Vu
1993	''A Single Woman''	Studio	Elektra Records
Additional releases
1975	''The Great Show Live in Paris''	Live	RCA?
1997	''Released''	Compilation	RCA Victor Europe
	''Gold''	Studio remastered	Universal/UCJ
''Anthology''	Compilation (from many labels)	RCA/BMG Heritage
2004	''Nina Simone's Finest Hour''	Compilation	Verve/Universal
	''The Soul of Nina Simone''	Compilation + DVD	RCA DualDisc
''Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976''	DVD only	Eagle Eye Media
	''The Very Best of Nina Simone''	Compilation	Sony BMG
	Remix	Legacy/SBMG	5 (contemp.jazz)
''Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone''	Compilation/Live Compilation	Deluxe
''Forever Young, Gifted, & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit''	Remix	RCA
2008	''To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story''	Compilation	Sony Legacy
2009	''The Definitive Rarities Collection - 50 Classic Cuts''	Compilation	Artwork Media
?	''Nina Simone Live''	DVD only: Studio 1961 & '62	Kultur/Creative Arts Television

References

Bibliography

External links

Main sites

Nina Simone discography at iMusic.am

Nina Simone in the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians

Nina Simone at Legacy Recordings

The Nina Simone Database – comprehensive Nina Simone website

L'hommage: Nina Simone – tribute and archival site

Reviews and other sites

Nina Simone at The Music Box – a collection of reviews

Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project North Carolina-based scholarship, statue & music festival

Nina Simone Biography at About.com

Obituary from ''The Daily Telegraph''

Nina Simone: The "Princess Noire" - audio report by ''NPR''

Category:1933 births Category:2003 deaths Category:American Methodists Category:African American female activists Category:African American female singer-songwriters Category:African Americans' rights activists Category:American expatriates in France Category:American jazz pianists Category:American jazz singers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American soul musicians Category:Cancer deaths in France Category:Charly Records artists Category:Deaths from breast cancer Category:Jazz songwriters Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:People from Polk County, North Carolina Category:People from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Soul-jazz musicians Category:Torch singers Category:Female jazz musicians

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Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Name	Harry Belafonte
Born	New York City, New York, U.S.
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Harold George Belafonete Jr.
Years active	1949–2003
Label	RCA Victor CBS EMI Island
Genre	Calypso, vocal, folk
Occupation	Actor, activist, singer }}

Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. (originally "Belafonete"; born March 1, 1927) is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" – a title which he was very reluctant to accept (according to the documentary ''Calypso Dreams'') – for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing the "Banana Boat Song," with its signature lyric "Day-O." Throughout his career he has been an advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes and was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush Administration.

Early life

Born Harold George Belafonte, Jr., at Lying-in Hospital, New York City, New York, Belafonte was the son of Melvine (née Love) – a housekeeper (of Jamaican descent) – and Harold George Belafonete, Sr., a Martiniquan who worked as chef in the Royal Navy. From 1932 to 1940, he lived with his grandmother in her native country of Jamaica. When he returned to New York City he attended George Washington High School after which he joined the Navy and served during World War II. At the end of the 1940s he took classes in acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German director Erwin Piscator alongside Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau, Bea Arthur and Sidney Poitier, while performing with the American Negro Theatre. He subsequently received a Tony Award for his participation in the Broadway revue ''John Murray Anderson's Almanac.''

Music career

Belafonte started his career in music as a club singer in New York to pay for his acting classes. The first time he appeared in front of an audience he was backed by the Charlie Parker band, which included Charlie Parker himself, Max Roach and Miles Davis, among others. At first he was a pop singer, launching his recording career on the Roost label in 1949, but later he developed a keen interest in folk music, learning material through the Library of Congress' American folk songs archives. With guitarist and friend Millard Thomas, Belafonte soon made his debut at the legendary jazz club The Village Vanguard. In 1952 he received a contract with RCA Victor.

''Calypso''

His first widely–released single, which went on to become his "signature" song with audience participation in virtually all his live performances, was "Matilda," recorded April 27, 1953. His breakthrough album ''Calypso'' (1956) became the first LP to sell over 1 million copies (Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons," both singles, had previously surpassed that mark). The album is number four on ''Billboard's'' "Top 100 Album" list for having spent 31 weeks at number 1, 58 weeks in the top ten, and 99 weeks on the U.S. charts. The album introduced American audiences to Calypso music (which had originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 20th century) and Belafonte was dubbed the "King of Calypso," a title he wore with reservations, since he had no claims to any Calypso Monarch titles.

One of the songs included in the album is the now famous "Banana Boat Song" (listed as "Day O" on the original release), which reached number five on the pop charts, and featured its signature lyric "Day–O." Belafonte based his version on a 1954 recording by Jamaican folk singer Louise Bennett. His other smash hit was "Jump in the Line."

Many of the compositions recorded for ''Calypso,'' including "Banana Boat Song" and "Jamaica Farewell," gave songwriting credit to Irving Burgie, Belafonte and his team but were really previously recorded Jamaican mento songs sold as calypso. The original Jamaican versions can now be heard on the "Jamaica—Mento1951–1958" CD released in 2010.

Middle career

While primarily known for Calypso, Belafonte has recorded in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. His second–most popular hit, which came immediately after "The Banana Boat Song," was the novelty tune "Mama Look at Bubu," also known as "Mama Look a Boo–Boo" (originally recorded by Lord Melody in 1956), in which he sings humorously about misbehaving and disrespectful children. It reached number eleven on the pop chart.

In 1959 he starred in ''Tonight With Belafonte,'' a nationally televised special that featured Odetta, who sang ''Water Boy'' and who performed a duet with Belafonte of ''There's a Hole in My Bucket'' that hit the national charts in 1961. Belafonte continued to record for RCA through the 1950s to the 1970s. Two live albums, both recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1959 and 1960, enjoyed critical and commercial success. From his 1959 album, Hava Nagila became part of his regular routine and one of his signature songs. He was one of many entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the inaugural gala of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. That same year he released his second calypso album, ''Jump Up Calypso,'' which went on to become another million seller. During the 1960s he introduced several artists to American audiences, most notably South African singer Miriam Makeba and Greek singer Nana Mouskouri. His album ''Midnight Special'' (1962) featured the first–ever record appearance by a then young harmonica player named Bob Dylan.

As The Beatles and other stars from Britain began to dominate the U.S. pop charts, Belafonte's commercial success diminished; 1964's ''Belafonte at The Greek Theatre'' was his last album to appear in ''Billboard's'' Top 40. His last hit single, ''A Strange Song,'' was released in 1967 and peaked at number 5 on the Adult contemporary music charts. Belafonte has received Grammy Awards for the albums ''Swing Dat Hammer'' (1960) and ''An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba'' (1965). The latter album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under Apartheid. He earned six Gold Records.

Later recordings and other activities

Belafonte's recording activity slowed after leaving RCA in the 1970s. From the mid–1970s to early 1980s he spent the greater part of his time touring Japan, Europe, Cuba and elsewhere. His involvement in USA for Africa during the mid–1980s resulted in renewed interest in his music, culminating in a record deal with EMI. He subsequently released his first album of original material in over a decade, ''Paradise in Gazankulu,'' in 1988. The album contains ten protest songs against the South African former Apartheid policy and as of 2011 was his last studio album. In the same year Belafonte, as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, attended a symposium in Harare, Zimbabwe to focus attention on child survival and development in Southern African countries. As part of the symposium, he performed a concert for UNICEF. A Kodak video crew filmed the concert, which was released as a 60-minute concert video entitled "Global Carnival." It features many of the songs from the album ''Paradise in Gazankulu'' and some of his classic hits. Also in 1988, Tim Burton used "The Banana Boat Song" and "Jump in the Line" in his movie ''Beetlejuice."

Following a lengthy recording hiatus, ''An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends,'' a soundtrack and video of a televised concert were released in 1997 by Island Records. ''The Long Road to Freedom, An Anthology of Black Music,'' a huge multi–artist project recorded during the 1960s and 1970s with RCA, was finally released by the label in 2001. The album was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Boxed Recording Package, for Best Album Notes and for Best Historical Album.

Belafonte was the first African–American to win an Emmy, with his first solo TV special ''Tonight with Belafonte'' (1959). During the 1960s he appeared on TV specials alongside such artists as Julie Andrews, Petula Clark, Lena Horne and Nana Mouskouri. He was also a guest star on a memorable episode of ''The Muppet Show'' in 1978, in which he performed his signature song "Day–O" on television for the first time. The episode is best known for Belafonte's rendition of the spiritual song, "Turn the World Around," which he performed with Muppets that resembled African tribal masks. It became one of the series' most famous performances. It was reportedly Jim Henson's favorite episode, and Belafonte reprised the song at Henson's memorial in 1990. "Turn the World Around" was also included in the 2005 official hymnal supplement of the Unitarian Universalist Association, "Singing the Journey."

Belafonte received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1989. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994 and he won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. He performed sell–out concerts globally through the 1950s to the 2000s. Due to illness he was forced to cancel a reunion tour with Nana Mouskouri planned for the spring and summer of 2003 following a tour in Europe. His last concert was a benefit concert for the Atlanta Opera on October 25, 2003. In a 2007 interview he stated that he had since retired from performing.

Film career

Belafonte has starred in several films. His first film role was in ''Bright Road'' (1953), in which he appeared alongside Dorothy Dandridge. The two subsequently starred in Otto Preminger's hit musical ''Carmen Jones'' (1954). Ironically, Belafonte's singing in the film was dubbed by an opera singer, as Belafonte's own singing voice was seen as unsuitable for the role. Using his star clout, Belafonte was subsequently able to realize several then–controversial film roles. In 1957's ''Island in the Sun,'' there are hints of an affair between Belafonte's character and the character played by Joan Fontaine. The film also starred James Mason, Dandridge, Joan Collins, Michael Rennie and John Justin. In 1959, he starred in and produced Robert Wise's ''Odds Against Tomorrow,'' in which he plays a bank robber uncomfortably teamed with a racist partner (Robert Ryan). He also co–starred with Inger Stevens in ''The World, the Flesh and the Devil.'' Belafonte was offered the role of Porgy in Preminger's ''Porgy and Bess,'' where he would have once again starred opposite Dandridge, but he refused the role because he objected to its racial stereotyping.

Dissatisfied with the film roles available to him, he returned to music during the 1960s. In the early 1970s Belafonte appeared in more films among which are two with Poitier: ''Buck and the Preacher'' (1972) and ''Uptown Saturday Night'' (1974). In 1984 Belafonte produced and scored the musical film ''Beat Street,'' dealing with the rise of hip-hop culture. Together with Arthur Baker, he produced the gold-certified soundtrack of the same name. Belafonte next starred in a major film again in the mid-1990s, appearing with John Travolta in the race–reverse drama ''White Man's Burden'' (1995); and in Robert Altman's jazz age drama ''Kansas City'' (1996), the latter of which garnered him the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also starred as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in the TV drama ''Swing Vote'' (1999). In late 2006, Belafonte appeared in the role of Nelson, a friend of an employee of the Ambassador Hotel played by Anthony Hopkins, in ''Bobby,'' Emilio Estevez's ensemble drama about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

Personal life

Family

Belafonte and Marguerite Byrd were married from 1948 to 1957. They have two daughters: Adrienne and Shari. Shari Belafonte, married to Sam Behrens, is a photographer, model, singer and actor. In 1997 Adrienne Biesemeyer and her daughter Rachel Blue founded the Anir Foundation/Experience. Anir focuses on humanitarian work in southern Africa.

On March 8, 1957, Belafonte married second wife Julie Robinson (former dancer with the Katherine Dunham Company). They had two children, David and Gina Belafonte. David Belafonte (a former model and actor) is an Emmy-winning producer and the executive director of the family-held company Belafonte Enterprises Inc. A music producer, he has been involved in most of Belafonte's albums and tours. He married Danish model, singer and TV personality Malena Belafonte, born Mathiesen, who won silver in ''Dancing with the Stars'' in Denmark in 2009. Malena Belafonte founded Speyer Legacy School, an award winning private elementary school for gifted and talented children. David and Malena's daughter Sarafina attended this school. Gina Belafonte is a TV and film actress and worked with her father as coach and producer on more than six films. Gina helped found The Gathering For Justice, an intergenerational, intercultural non-profit organization working to reintroduce nonviolence to stop child incarceration. She is married to actor Scott McCray.

In April 2008, Belafonte married Pamela Frank. Belafonte lived in a 17-room apartment at 300 West End Avenue (corner of 74th Street) in New York City for 50 years. In 2007 he sold his fifth-floor apartment to Abigail Disney for ten million eight hundred thousand dollars. In October 1998 Belafonte contributed a letter to Liv Ullmann's book ''Letter to My Grandchild.''

Political and humanitarian activism

Belafonte's political beliefs were greatly inspired by the singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson, who mentored him. Robeson was a controversial figure who supported the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. Robeson opposed not only racial prejudice in the United States, but also western colonialism in Africa. Belafonte's success did not protect him from racial discrimination, particularly in the American South. Belafonte refused to perform there from 1954 until 1961. In 1960 he appeared in a campaign commercial for Democratic Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. Kennedy later named Belafonte cultural advisor to the Peace Corps.

Belafonte gave the keynote address at the ACLU of Northern California's annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration In December 2007 and was awarded the Chief Justice Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival featured the documentary film "Sing Your Song," a biographical film focusing on Belafonte's contribution to and his leadership in the civil rights movement in America and his endeavours to promote social justice globally.

Civil rights activist

Belafonte supported the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and was one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s confidants. He provided for King's family, since King made only $8,000 a year as a preacher. Like many other civil rights activists, Belafonte was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He bailed King out of the Birmingham City Jail and raised thousands of dollars to release other civil rights protesters. He financed the Freedom Rides, supported voter registration drives, and helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963.

During "Freedom Summer" in 1964 Belafonte bankrolled the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, flying to Mississippi that August with $60,000 in cash and entertaining crowds in Greenwood. In 1968 Belafonte appeared on a Petula Clark primetime television special on NBC. In the middle of a song, Clark smiled and briefly touched Belafonte's arm, which made the show's sponsor, Plymouth Motors, nervous. Plymouth wanted to cut the segment, but Clark, who had ownership of the special, told NBC that the performance would be shown intact or she would not allow the special to be aired at all. Newspapers reported the controversy, and when the special aired it grabbed high ratings. Belafonte appeared on ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' and performed a controversial "Mardi Gras" number with footage intercut from the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots. CBS censors deleted the segment.

Humanitarian activist

In 1985, he helped organize the Grammy Award winning song "We Are the World," a multi-artist effort to raise funds for Africa. He performed in the Live Aid concert that same year. In 1987 he received an appointment to UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador. Following his appointment Belafonte traveled to Dakar, Senegal, where he served as chairman of the International Symposium of Artists and Intellectuals for African Children. He also helped to raise funds—alongside more than 20 other artists—in the largest concert ever held in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1994 he went on a mission to Rwanda and launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the needs of Rwandan children.

In 2001 he went to South Africa to support the campaign against HIV/AIDS. In 2002 Africare awarded him the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award for his efforts to assist Africa. In 2004 Belafonte went to Kenya to stress the importance of educating children in the region. Belafonte has been involved in prostate cancer advocacy since 1996, when he was diagnosed and successfully treated for the disease. On June 27, 2006, Belafonte was the recipient of the BET Humanitarian Award at the 2006 BET Awards. He was named one of nine 2006 Impact Award recipients by ''AARP The Magazine.''

On October 19, 2007, Belafonte represented UNICEF on Norwegian television to support the annual telethon (TV Aksjonen) in support of that charity and helped raise a world record of $10 per inhabitant of Norway. Belafonte was also an ambassador for the Bahamas. He is on the board of directors of the Advancement Project.

Political activist

Belafonte has been a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy. He began making controversial political statements on this subject in the early 1980s. He has at various times made statements opposing the U.S. embargo on Cuba; praising Soviet peace initiatives; attacking the U.S. invasion of Grenada; praising the Abraham Lincoln Brigade; honoring Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and praising Fidel Castro. Belafonte is additionally known for his visit to Cuba which helped ensure hip-hop’s place in Cuban society. According to Geoffrey Baker’s article “Hip hop, Revolucion! Nationalizing Rap in Cuba,” in 1999 Belafonte met with representatives of the rap community immediately before meeting with Fidel Castro. This meeting resulted in Castro’s personal approval of (and hence the government’s involvement in), the incorporation of rap into his country’s culture. In a 2003 interview Belafonte reflected upon this meeting’s influence:

“When I went back to Havana a couple years later, the people in the hip-hop community came to see me and we hung out for a bit. They thanked me profusely and I said, 'Why?' and they said, 'Because your little conversation with Fidel and the Minister of Culture on hip-hop led to there being a special division within the ministry and we've got our own studio'."

Belafonte was active in the anti–Apartheid movement. He was the Master of Ceremonies at a reception honoringAfrican National Congress President Oliver Tambo at Roosevelt House, Hunter College, in New York City. The reception was held by the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) and The Africa Fund. He is a current board member of the TransAfrica Forum and the Institute for Policy Studies.

In December 2007 he endorsed John Edwards for the 2008 Presidential Election.

Opposition to the George W. Bush Administration

Belafonte achieved widespread attention for his political views in 2002 when he began making a series of comments about President George W. Bush, his administration and the Iraq War. During an interview with Ted Leitner for San Diego's 760 KFMB, in October 2002 Belafonte referred to a quote made by Malcolm X. Belafonte said:

Belafonte used the quote to characterize former United States Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, both African-Americans. Powell and Rice both responded, with Powell calling the remarks "unfortunate" and Rice saying "I don't need Harry Belafonte to tell me what it means to be black."

thumb|Harry Belafonte at the 61st Berlin International Film FestivalThe comment was brought up again in an interview with Amy Goodman for ''Democracy Now!'' in 2006. In January 2006, Belafonte led a delegation of activists including actor Danny Glover and activist/professor Cornel West to meet with President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez. In 2005 Chávez, an outspoken Bush critic, initiated a program to provide cheaper heating oil for poor people in several areas of the United States. Belafonte supported this initiative. Belafonte was quoted as saying, during the meeting with Chávez, "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people support your revolution." Belafonte and Glover met again with Chávez in 2006. The comment ignited a great deal of controversy. Hillary Clinton refused to acknowledge Belafonte's presence at an awards ceremony that featured both of them. AARP, which had just named him one of its 10 Impact Award honorees 2006, released this statement following the remarks: "AARP does not condone the manner and tone which he has chosen and finds his comments completely unacceptable." During a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speech at Duke University in 2006 Belafonte compared the American government to the 9/11 hijackers, saying, "What is the difference between that terrorist and other terrorists?" In response to criticism about his remarks Belafonte asked, "What do you call Bush when the war he put us in to date has killed almost as many Americans as died on 9/11 and the number of Americans wounded in war is almost triple? [...] By most definitions Bush can be considered a terrorist." When he was asked about his expectation of criticism for his remarks on the war in Iraq, Belafonte responded: "Bring it on. Dissent is central to any democracy."

In another interview Belafonte remarked that while his comments may have been "hasty," nevertheless he felt the Bush administration suffered from "arrogance wedded to ignorance" and its policies around the world were "morally bankrupt." In January 2006, in a speech to the annual meeting of the Arts Presenters Members Conference, Belafonte referred to "the new Gestapo of Homeland Security" saying, "You can be arrested and have no right to counsel!" During the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speech at the Duke University in January 2006 Belafonte said that if he could choose his epitaph it would be, "Harry Belafonte, Patriot."

Discography

Filmography

''Bright Road'' (1953)

''Carmen Jones'' (1954)

''Island in the Sun'' (1957)

''The Heart of Show Business'' (1957) (short subject)

''The World, the Flesh and the Devil'' (1959)

''Odds Against Tomorrow'' (1959)

''King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis'' (1970) (documentary) (narrator)

''The Angel Levine'' (1970)

''Buck and the Preacher'' (1972)

''Uptown Saturday Night'' (1974)

''A veces miro mi vida'' (1982)

''Drei Lieder'' (1983) (short subject)

''Sag nein'' (1983) (documentary)

''Der Schönste Traum'' (1984) (documentary)

''We Shall Overcome'' (1989) (documentary) (narrator)

''The Player'' (1992) (Cameo)

''Ready to Wear'' (1994) (Cameo)

''Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream'' (1995)

''White Man's Burden'' (1995)

''Jazz '34'' (1996)

''Kansas City'' (1996)

''Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist'' (1998) (documentary)

''Fidel'' (2001) (documentary)

''XXI Century'' (2003) (documentary)

''Conakry Kas'' (2003) (documentary)

''Ladders'' (2004) (documentary) (narrator)

''Mo & Me'' (2006) (documentary)

''Bobby'' (2006)

''Motherland'' (2009) (documentary)

''Sing Your Song'' (2011) (documentary)

Television work

''Sugar Hill Times'' (1949–1950)

''Tonight With Belafonte'' (1959)

''Petula'' (1968)

''A World in Music'' (1969)

''Harry & Lena, For The Love Of Life (1969)

''A World in Love'' (1970)

''Free to Be… You and Me'' (1974)

''The Muppet Show'' (1978)

''Grambling's White Tiger'' (1981)

''Don't Stop The Carnival'' (1985)

''An Evening With Harry Belafonte And Friends'' (1997)

''Swing Vote'' (1999)

''Tanner on Tanner'' (2004)

''That's What I'm Talking About'' (2006) (miniseries)

''When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts'' (2006) (miniseries)

Concert videos

''Don't Stop The Carnival'' (1985)

''Global Carnival'' (1988)

''An Evening With Harry Belafonte And Friends'' (1997)

Stage work

''John Murray Anderson's Almanac'' (December 10, 1953 – June 26, 1954)

''3 for Tonight'' (April 6 – June 18, 1955)

''Moonbirds'' (October 9–10, 1959) (producer)

''Belafonte at the Palace'' (December 15, 1959 – closing date unknown)

''Asinamali!'' (April 23 – May 17, 1987) (producer)

Quotation

References

External links

Harry Belafonte discography

English version of the text found at the bottom of the page.

2004 Global Exchange Human Rights Award – Belafonte's acceptance speech in San Francisco

Ubben Lecture at DePauw University

Democracy Now! transcript/MP3/video of interview by Amy Goodman, January 30, 2006

''The Bigotry of Belafonte'' – by Andrew Sullivan, Salon.com, Oct. 25, 2002

"The Man Behind Belafonte's Music – Irving Burgie" – by Ronald David Jackson, with video

Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks

The HistoryMakers Biography and video clips

Harry Belafonte: Belafonte At Carnegie Hall

Belafonte and Nat King Cole sing "Mama Look at Bubu"

Belafonte: "Iraq & Afghanistan Wars Are Immoral" – video report by ''Democracy Now!''

Category:American anti-war activists Category:American folk singers Category:People from Manhattan Category:American socialists Category:International opponents of apartheid in South Africa Category:Calypsonians Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:American musicians of Jamaican descent Category:People of Martiniquais descent Category:World music musicians Category:Jubilee Records artists Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Tony Award winners Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:1927 births Category:Living people

an:Harry Belafonte bg:Хари Белафонте cy:Harry Belafonte da:Harry Belafonte de:Harry Belafonte et:Harry Belafonte es:Harry Belafonte fa:هری بلافونته fr:Harry Belafonte gl:Harry Belafonte hr:Harry Belafonte io:Harry Belafonte id:Harry Belafonte is:Harry Belafonte it:Harry Belafonte he:הארי בלפונטה hu:Harry Belafonte ml:ഹാരി ബെലാഫൊണ്ടെ nl:Harry Belafonte ja:ハリー・ベラフォンテ no:Harry Belafonte oc:Harry Belafonte pl:Harry Belafonte pt:Harry Belafonte ru:Белафонте, Гарри simple:Harry Belafonte fi:Harry Belafonte sv:Harry Belafonte tr:Harry Belafonte

Coordinates	39°44′21″N104°59′5″N
Name	Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Background	group_or_band
Landscape	Yes
Origin	Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Genre	Isicathamiya, mbube
Years active	1960–1964 (original group) 1964–present (current incarnation)|
Label	Gallo Record Company (1973–present) Warner Bros. Records (1986–1995) Shanachie Records (1986–2000) Wrasse Records (1998–2004) Heads Up International (2004–2010) Listen2 Entertainment Group (2010–present)|
Website	www.mambazo.com
Current members	Joseph Shabalala(founder, lead singer, and musical director) Thamsanqa Shabalala Sibongiseni Shabalala Thulani Shabalala Msizi Shabalala Albert Mazibuko Abednego Mazibuko Russel Mthembu Ngane Dlamini|
Past members	Jockey ShabalalaJabulani Dubazana Inos Phungula Ben Shabalala Geophrey MdletsheHeadman ShabalalaMilton Mazibuko Funokwakhe MazibukoJoseph MazibukoWalter MalingaMatovoti Msimanga }}

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. They rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his album, ''Graceland'' and have won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards. They were formed by Joseph Shabalala in 1960 and later became one of South Africa's most prolific recording artists, with their releases receiving gold and platinum disc honors. The group has now become a mobile academy, teaching people about South Africa and its culture.

History

Joseph Shabalala formed Ladysmith Black Mambazo because of a series of dreams he had in 1964, in which he heard certain ''isicathamiya'' harmonies (''isicathamiya'' being the traditional music of the Zulu people). Following their local success at wedding ceremonies and other gatherings, Shabalala entered them into ''isicathamiya'' competitions. The group was described as 'so good' that they were eventually forbidden to enter the competitions, but welcomed to entertain at them. Although they had been recognised as an ''isicathamiya'' group in 1964, they had been singing together since the early 1950s. They released their first album, ''Amabutho'', in 1973. The album, along with many other releases by the group, received gold disc certification. Ladysmith Black Mambazo's collaboration with Paul Simon in 1986 paved the way for international releases, making them widely known across the world.

1960–1986

The first incarnation of Ladysmith Black Mambazo was "Ezimnyama" ("The Black Ones"), formed by Shabalala in December 1960. The members of the group were relatives (mostly brothers and cousins) of Shabalala, with many having sung with him while he was growing up on the farm where he was born. Although the group did sing well together and captured the sound of ''cothoza mfana'' (''tip toe boys'', a 1960s slang term for isicathamiya) and mbube groups of the time, they were unknown outside of the Ladysmith district.

In 1964, Shabalala had a series of recurring dreams during his sleep, over a period of six months, featuring a choir singing in perfect harmony. Shabalala described this as a beautiful sound, and one not yet achieved by his group of the time. As a result, he reformed the group, bringing on board newer (younger) relatives but keeping the group name. He strived to teach them the harmonies from his dreams, creating what was to become a signature tune for the group: "Nomathemba" (a girl's name - meaning "hope"). After deciding that this group well replicated the beautiful, soft sounds from his dreams, Shabalala entered the group into isicathamiya competitions, held on Saturday nights in the halls of hostels in Durban and Johannesburg. The group managed to win nearly every competition that was held. As a result, Shabalala decided to change the name of the group to be more descriptive of its talent. The name "Ezimnyama" was replaced by "Ladysmith Black Mambazo".

The three elements of the new name were: the hometown of Shabalala's family, Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal; the black ox, considered to be the strongest farm animal; and ''mambazo'', which means ''axe'' in the Zulu language, and is symbolic of the choir's ability to "chop down" the competition.

Eventually, by the early 1970s, the group was forbidden to compete in the competitions because of their continual success. They were, however, welcome to perform without taking part in the competition itself.

In 1967, the group began to make recordings for the SABC station Radio Zulu, appearing in DJ Alexius Buthelezi's popular ''Cothoza Mfana'' programme which spotlighted the music of several local choirs. Their success was so great that music producers began enticing the group to sign a recording contract. In 1972 the group signed with Gallo Record Company under producer West Nkosi at the organisation's African music division, Mavuthela Music Company (Nkosi was also well known in South Africa as a saxophone jive star). Ladysmith Black Mambazo released their first album the following year, ''Amabutho'', which received gold status and was the first album by a black musician or group in South Africa to do so. Their subsequent albums also received gold or platinum certification. With the release of their second album, they had become professional singers.

In 1976, Shabalala converted to Christianity and a host of religious material now entered the group's repertoire. Mambazo's first religious album, ''Ukukhanya Kwelanga'', was released soon afterwards. It earned a double platinum disc award, and the group's repertoire came to be dominated by hymns, mostly Methodist. Their 1977 LP ''Ukusindiswa'' became one of their most popular religious albums, selling double gold discs within three weeks of release. The group toured West Germany and appeared on television, and learned some of the German language; for the group's 1981 album ''Phansi Emgodini'', Shabalala composed a song titled "Wir Grüssen Euch Alle" ("We greet you all"). The following year, the group traveled back to Germany to appear on a televised quiz programme, bringing about requests for more live appearances. A track by the group also appeared on the groundbreaking British compilation album ''The Indestructible Beat of Soweto''.

1986–1993

In 1985, Paul Simon traveled to South Africa in the hope of collaborating with African musicians for his ''Graceland'' album. Simon contacted Shabalala and conversed with him in person - after much discussion and excitement, the group traveled to London to record with Simon. The first recording was "Homeless" - the music and chorus were composed by Simon, with Shabalala composing the Zulu introduction and main (non-English) body of the song. ''Graceland'' was released in late 1986, and although both Joseph Shabalala and Paul Simon were accused of breaking the cultural boycott of South Africa, the album became a huge success and sold 16 million copies and further boosted Ladysmith Black Mambazo's international image. This also paved the way for other African acts such as Stimela and Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens to gain popularity amongst Western audiences.

After ''Graceland'', Simon acted as producer on three records for the group aimed at the American market, ''Shaka Zulu'' (1987), ''Journey of Dreams'' (1988) and ''Two Worlds, One Heart'' (1990). On the latter album, the group recorded with The Winans, Julia Fordham and George Clinton among other then-popular artists. ''Shaka Zulu'' was nominated (and won) in the category of Best Traditional Folk Recording in the Grammy Awards 1988.

In 1988, Ladysmith Black Mambazo appeared in Michael Jackson's movie ''Moonwalker'', where they performed "The Moon Is Walking" (an abridged version of the song "Lindelani", which appears on ''Journey of Dreams'') over the end credits. Ladysmith Black Mambazo was also featured in the Sesame Street song "Put Down The Duckie".

In 1988, Ladysmith Black Mambazo sang an arrangement of "Mbube" during the opening sequence of the movie ''Coming to America'', but the song was not released on the soundtrack.

On 10 December 1991, Shabalala's brother and one of the bass members in the group, Headman Shabalala, were shot and killed by Sean Nicholas, a white off-duty security guard. Paul Simon, who believed the killing to be racially motivated, led the court proceedings against Nicholas. Joseph Shabalala stopped singing. Eventually, aided by his Christian beliefs, he returned to singing. Following the retirement of three more members in 1993, Shabalala recruited four of his sons into the group.

1993–2002

The Apartheid system was abolished in 1991. The release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years imprisonment brought a celebratory album release - 1993's ''Liph' Iqiniso''. The album's last track, "Isikifil' Inkululeko" ("Freedom Has Arrived"), was a celebration of the end of Apartheid.

According to Shabalala, Nelson Mandela (shortly after his release from prison) publicly stated that the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo were "South Africa's cultural ambassadors". Ladysmith Black Mambazo accompanied the future President of South Africa to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway at the request of Nelson Mandela, in 1993. Mambazo sang again at President Mandela's inauguration in May 1994, and then later at his birthday celebrations.

In 1997, for a series of television advertisements entitled "Toast for Life" for Heinz soups, baked beans, salad cream, and tomato ketchup, the group recorded an abridged version of "Inkanyezi Nezazi" ("''The Star and the Wiseman''"). The adverts proved so popular that the original studio version (recorded back in 1992) was released as a single, with the cover art imitating the label on a tin of Heinz Baked Beans; the single reached #2 in the UK Pop Charts. The single was followed up by ''The Best of Ladysmith Black Mambazo - The Star and the Wiseman'' in 1998, a compilation release which became so popular that it was certified triple platinum, selling 1 million copies in Britain alone. The Heinz campaign led to a reawakening of the group in Britain, and many television and radio performances beckoned over the next few years, as well as performing for the British royal family. In 2001, the group was referenced in the Family Guy episode Lethal Weapons.

2002–2006

As a follow-up to the traditional release ''Lihl' Ixhiba Likagogo'' in 2000, the group began preparations for ''Wenyukela'', another album of new material, in 2002. However, the making of the record underwent severe strain when, in May 2002, Shabalala's wife of thirty years (and lead singer in the allied group "Women of Mambazo"), Nellie, was murdered in a church car park by a masked gunman. Shabalala's hand was injured trying to protect his wife. Joseph's son Vivian Nkosinathi was accused of hiring a hitman to murder his stepmother Nellie. During the court trial, Nkosinathi supposedly testified that the South African police offered some kind of reprieve if he would implicate his own father, Joseph, in the murder.

''Wenyukela'', however, went ahead, as Shabalala began to recover. Songs such as "Wenza Ngani?" ("''How Did You Do That?''") had a moral theme, such as racism. Others included "Fak' Ibhande" ("''Don't Drink and Drive''"), which warned of the dangers of alcohol and driving; "Wenyukela", which spoke of the resurrection of Jesus and how South Africans were nearly misled into killing each other during the 1994 elections; and "Selingelethu Sonke", a song asking for fair trade in Africa. The group had originally spoken of the issue of fair trade in the Oxfam campaign Make Trade Fair. They appeared as guests in "The Big Noise", a worldwide petition for fair trade.

The success of ''Wenyukela'' in South Africa prompted its release in Britain in March 2003 on Wrasse Records. Following the repeated success of the album, the American-based Heads Up International released the album in January 2004. In addition to the standard version, Heads Up released the album in the Hybrid SACD format. The US release reportedly went platinum and it garnered the group their second Grammy Award. They also embarked on a three month tour of the United States.

The group signed to Heads Up (in America; they remained with Gallo in South Africa) with their 2005 release, ''No Boundaries'', a collaboration with the English Chamber Orchestra which featured many classical standards (''Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring'', ''Ave Verum Corpus'') and Mambazo tunes (''Homeless'', ''Awu, Wemadoda'', ''Ngingenwe Emoyeni''). Despite initial worry about merging European traditions and Zulu folklore, the album sold very well and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

2006–2008

''Long Walk to Freedom'', a celebration of 45 years of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, was released by the group on 24 January 2006. On the album (which also celebrated the 20th anniversary of ''Graceland''), the group recorded with a multitude of artists including Zap Mama, Sarah McLachlan, Melissa Etheridge, Joe McBride, Natalie Merchant, Emmylou Harris, and Taj Mahal as well as South African musicians Lucky Dube, Phuzekhemisi, Bhekumuzi Luthuli, Nokukhanya, Thandiswa, Vusi Mahlasela and Hugh Masekela. Ladysmith Black Mambazo also expressed wishes to work with Paul Simon once more, twenty years on since ''Graceland''.

To support the promotion of the album and tour, Mambazo appeared on various television and radio programmes throughout January and February 2006. The group also started a street team; this is currently exclusive to fans in the US and Canada.

In April 2006, Mambazo collaborated with Josh Groban for his third studio album, ''Awake''. The songs, "Weeping" and "Lullaby", featured a clear South African influence; lines from a Mambazo song, "Wangibambezela" ("''Message from his Heart''") were added to the backing track of "Weeping". Following this, in August 2006, Mambazo began working with Mavis Staples in a collaboration for Staples's new album. Whilst Mambazo toured the United States, the television program ''Saturday Night Live'' parodied the group in a ''TV Funhouse'' sketch, hosted by Dennis Haysbert, about failed Saturday morning cartoons starring black cartoon characters, one of which was a cartoon featuring the group called, Ladysmith Black Mambazo in Outer Space. Members of the group added commentary to the short for the DVD release of the SNL special, "The Best of TV Funhouse".

On October 17, 2006, Ladysmith Black Mambazo performed a special concert, ''Long Walk to Freedom: An Evening with Ladysmith Black Mambazo''. The night included special guest appearances by Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Mahotella Queens, Vusi Mahlasela, and Pete Seeger.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo was nominated for two Grammy Awards in the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in 2007, for their album ''Long Walk to Freedom''. The album was nominated in the categories Best Contemporary World Music Album and Best Surround Sound Production, but did not win.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo's 2007 album, ''Ilembe'', was released on February 26, 2007. It was released in South Africa initially, and issued in the United Kingdom on the Warner Jazz label on April 2, 2007 (under the title ''Ilembe - Our Tribute to King Shaka''). The album featured new recordings such as "Ommu Beno Mmu" ("Somebody And Somebody"), "Sizobalanda" ("We Are Here") and "Iphel' Emasini" ("A Cockroach In The Milk" - Zulu proverb). The album was released in the United States on January 22, 2008, under the title ''Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu'', on Heads Up International.

2008–present

There had been many questions on when founder, director, composer, and lead singer Joseph Shabalala would finally retire from his group. On January 23, 2008, Shabalala issued a statement on this.

The full statement is reproduced below:

Ladysmith Black Mambazo's 2007 release, ''Ilembe'', garnered success on both sides of the world. In 2008 the group won the SAMA Award for ''Best Traditional A Cappella Album'' for ''Ilembe'', and it was announced in November 2008 that the US Surround sound version of the album was nominated for ''Best Traditional World Music Album'' in the 2009 Grammy Awards, marking their 13th Grammy nomination. The group won this award - their third Grammy - in the ceremony held on 8 February 2009.

In September 2008, Mambazo in collaboration with the SABC Choir released ''My Dream - African Sounds'', an album featuring the two choirs performing each other's songs, as well as singing together. Songs included are "Plea for Africa", original Mambazo tunes "Shintsha Sithothobala" and "Angimboni Ofana Naye", as well as new compositions like "Buya Lindiwe" and "Okuhle Hle".

Ladysmith Black Mambazo's 2010 album ''Kobuye Kulunge'' was released in April 2010, initially in South Africa only. It is expected to be released internationally by the end of the year.

The Ladysmith Black Mambazo Foundation

In January 1999, Joseph Shabalala founded ''The Ladysmith Black Mambazo Foundation''. The aim of the organization is to teach young Zulu South African children about their traditional culture and music; isicathamiya. Today, the Mambazo Academy is currently being built, with plans for a rehearsal hall, teaching areas and a professional recording studio. The main aim, of course, is to promote and teach the history of isicathamiya music to youngsters.

Awards and nominations

Ladysmith Black Mambazo have been acknowledged in award ceremonies such as the Grammy Awards and Academy Awards. In 1988, the group received their first Grammy Award for the album ''Shaka Zulu'', which was their first release recorded for the American market. Since then, they have won two more, and have been nominated for a total of thirteen times.

Awards

{| |1981 || ''SARIE Award'' || Best Choral Group on Disc |- |1988 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional Folk Recording || ''Shaka Zulu'' |- |1993 || ''Drama Desk Award'' || Outstanding Music in a Play || ''The Song of Jacob Zulu'' (stage) |- |1996 || ''Drama Desk Award'' || Best Original Music Score || ''Nomathemba'' (stage) |- |1997 || ''SAMA Award'' || Best Zulu Music Album || ''Ukuzala-Ukuzelula'' |- |1997 || ''SAMA Award'' || Best Duo or Group Award || ''Ukuzala-Ukuzelula'' |- |2001 || ''SAMA Award'' || Best Zulu Music Album || ''Lihl' Ixhiba Likagogo'' |- |2005 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Raise Your Spirit Higher'' |- |2008 || ''SAMA Award'' || Best Traditional A Cappella Album || ''Ilembe'' |- |2009 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu'' |- |}

Nominations

{| |1988 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional Folk Recording || ''Shaka Zulu'' |- |1991 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Classic Tracks'' |- |1993 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Best of - Vol. 1'' |- |1995 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Liph' Iqiniso'' |- |1995 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Gift of the Tortoise'' |- |1996 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Thuthukani Ngoxolo'' |- |1998 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Contemporary World Music Album || ''Heavenly'' |- |1999 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Live at the Royal Albert Hall'' |- |2001 || ''Academy Award'' || Best Short Documentary Film || ''On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom'' |- |2002 || ''Emmy Award'' || Best Cultural Documentary || ''On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom'' |- |2005 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Raise Your Spirit Higher'' |- |2006 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Contemporary World Music Album || ''No Boundaries'' |- |2007 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Contemporary World Music Album || ''Long Walk to Freedom'' |- |2007 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Surround Sound Production || ''Long Walk to Freedom'' |- |2009 || ''Grammy Award'' || Best Traditional World Music Album || ''Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu'' |}

Touring

The competitions and the first Mambazo concerts

After the release of the group's first album in 1973, they were banned from competing in the isicathamiya competitions because of their ability to win many of the competition. They were, however, welcome to perform for the audience. Following this, the group started performing for their own audiences in shows that were specially made - and soon afterwards, the group began touring around South Africa in their own concerts, but due to the Apartheid system in use, they were often stopped by police guards; on some of these occasions they were even made to lie down on the ground whilst being searched. Shortly afterwards, they were allowed to tour without permits.

The Graceland success

By 1986, the group had a very small number of white fans in South Africa; the majority of their fan base was black people (the group mainly toured in townships). After Paul Simon included the group on his "Graceland Tour of 1987", the group began touring by themselves and became very widely known. They have visited Europe, USA, and Asia, amongst others. The group is quite possibly better known in the USA (after the Graceland success and various advert campaigns for 7-Up and Life Savers candy) and the UK (again, because of the ''Graceland'' success, and several successful advertisements for Heinz).

Today

The group tours eight months of the year. In 2011 they will tour North America from mid January until late March. They then have a tour of the UK and Europe, from mid May until late June. There are also plans for a tour of Asia/Australia in October and a return to the USA.

Membership

Initially, the group was formed of Joseph Shabalala, his brothers Headman and Enoch, cousins Albert, Milton, Funokwakhe, Abednego and Joseph Mazibuko as well as close friends Matovoti Msimanga and Walter Malinga. Altogether, the group has had over 30 different members at one point or another over the past forty-five years.

Even though the early line-ups of the group contained a large amount of relatives from Shabalala's family (and, from 1969, his cousins from the Mazibuko family), most of the members that arrived in the group after the mid-1970s were recruited for their professional qualities. After alto voice Milton Mazibuko was murdered in 1980, the group spent quite a few months 'off', until returning the following year with two new members, Inos Phungula and Geophrey Mdletshe. In the 1970s, the group's original six members had been joined by many other men (most of whom only stayed with them for the recording sessions). The "Graceland" Group, that is the members who were with the group during the Paul Simon recording and tours, stayed together until 1993. After the murder of Joseph's brother, Headman, in 1991, brother Ben Shabalala and friend Geophrey Mdletshe retired. Three of Joseph Shabalala's sons joined the group in at that point, Thulani, Sibongiseni and Thamsanqa. In 1998, Inos Phungula retired and was replaced by another son of Joseph, Msizi Shabalala.

The members of the group currently reside in or near Pinetown, just outside of the coastal city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. The chorus' members are Joseph Shabalala; his sons Thamsanqa, Msizi, Thulani, and Sibongiseni; cousins Albert and Abednego Mazibuko; and close friends Russel Mthembu and Ngane Dlamini. Jabulani Dubazana, a member of the group since 1975, retired from international touring in September 2004. Long-time member Jockey Shabalala died at his home in Ladysmith, South Africa on 11 February 2006. He was 62, and was a member of the group for almost forty years.

Discography

Ladysmith Black Mambazo first recorded in 1973 on the Gallo label in South Africa. Since then the group has recorded over 50 albums, many of which have received gold- and/or platinum-disc certification.

Notes

See also

Isak Roux

References

External links

Official Mambazo site

Official press release for Ladysmith Black Mambazo's 'Songs from a Zulu Farm' album

The group's tour schedule

Heads Up International site

Category:A cappella musical groups Category:South African Christians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ladysmith Black Mambazo Category:Professional a cappella groups Category:Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal Category:Zulu people Category:Warner Bros. Records artists Category:Wrasse Records artists Category:South African choirs Category:Heads Up International artists Category:Isicathamiya choirs

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