Simon "Chopper" Chimbetu, one of ’s most successful and beloved local musicians died on Sunday, August 14, in Harare .He was 50.A veteran of Harare ’s intense nightlife for over two decades, Chimbetu saw his highs and lows.As he died, he was emerging from controversy surrounding his backing of the government’s land-grab policy. But his 2004 album “10 Million Pound Reward” was bringing him back into public favor in recent months.Six years earlier, when I lived in Harare, Chimbetu’s shows were the top draw in Harare, as stylish, polished, and tuneful a take on Zimbabwe’s own brand of guitar-based rumba—sometimes called sungura—as you could find.
Chimbetu was born and raised in Makwiru, Chegutu area, Mashonaland West in 1955.His parents were amateur musicians, and he fondly recalled his father drumming and his mother singing when he was a child.During the liberation war he and his three brothers and four sisters lived on Dendera Farm in Mozmbique.He returned after independence to work with a pioneering sungura band called The Marxist Brothers.When we spoke in 2001, he seemed a little embarrassed about the name, calling it a “nickname,” and explaining that it made more sense in the afterglow of the independence struggle, which was supported by communists in the USSR and China.Chimbetu seen here on his last Uk Tour..REST PEACE.
Busi is a leading light for female mbira songstresses in Zimbabwe; she sings in 6 African languages and her distinctive singing style has made her popular with music fans throughout the region.
As a founder member of the afro-fusion group Illanga, alongside Andy Brown, the late Don Gumbo, and Keith Farkharson thee group released a number of hit tracks through the '90's.
Busi has collaborated with many famous musicians and has performed alongside Youssou n'Dour, Bruce Springsteen, Marie Boine and many more.
Her present group Band Rain have recently released their second album "Malaisha" produced by Thulani Promotions - the band toured Norway in 2006 and appeared at the Mela Festival.
Busi also contributed to another Thulani project - "The Collaboration" and the album "Hupenyu Kumusha/Life at Home" released in 2006.
her youngest daughter attendent blakiston primary school in Zimbabwe -
Thomas Mapfumo was born in 1945 in Marondera, a town southeast of Harare the capital of Zimbabwe. He lived a traditional, rural Shona lifestyle until the age of ten, when his family moved to the Harare township of Mbare. He joined his first band, the Zutu Brothers a friend says it was the Cyclones), as a singer at the age of 16. From then he was always in one band or another, sometimes doing odd jobs on the side as well, including chicken farming. Hence the name of his 1972 band, the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band.
He played mostly covers of American rock and soul tunes, such as Otis Reddings or Elvis Presley, until he was in the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band. There he introduced the innovation of adapting traditional Shona music to modern rock instrumentation.