Johnny Clegg Tickets

Johnny Clegg is a cultural phenomenon. That's because he has established the reputation of being a versatile artist and an innovator. He is "The White Zulu", a famed musician from South Africa who is best known for his work with bands Savuka and Juluka. The best feature about Johnny Clegg's music is that he fuses English lyrics and other western styles like Celtic and European music with Zulu. The result is extraordinary. More recently he has started working solo and just like his work with these groups, he is sure to be famous solo as well. Johnny Clegg tickets are popular among a very specific group of people who admire him for his unique talents but more and more fans of other music genres are now seen liking him and attending his live performances.

Because of his upbringing in the U.K. Rhodesia, Zambia, Israel and South Africa, Johnny Clegg was exposed to diverse music. He found Zulu street music and traditional Zulu dance to be highly interesting in particular and started taking part in it himself. He formed a band with the name Juluka in 1969 with a Zulu musician which was the first South African band to break racist constraints. Juluka is Zulu for "Sweat". It was the apartheid era when he formed this band; the time when it was illegal to form racially mixed musical groups. But that didn't stop Clegg and he released the first album titled Universal Men. Although the album did not receive air play, it was a hit by word of mouth.

Clegg's music with the band was highly political. It infuriated the political system preaching racial separation because of its racially mixed members in the first place and because of its explicitly political lyrics. Because of this, many a times the band members were arrested and their concerts cancelled.

Clegg became an international success with his move to Europe where he had 5 gold albums and 2 platinum albums. Juluka disbanded in 1986 and Clegg went on to form another inter-racial band Savuka meaning "we have risen". The band's two albums, Shadow Man and Third World Child became extremely successful in Europe and especially in France where the albums sold in millions. Of these, Shadow Man was a bigger hit; a chart-topper in Canada as well. 1988 saw the height of success for Savuka where none other than Michael Jackson himself had to cancel his concert because a performance of Savuka sold more than his. Heat, Dust and Dreams was the band's last album which received a Grammy nomination.

Clegg performed in USA in 1996 for a short while where he paired up with the band member of Juluka again.  With Savuka, Clegg often sets out on touring internationally which is usually limited to some European countries including France. Clegg's second US touring came after almost eight years following the first one; in 2004, performing in 22 venues. It was a spectacle that even after no album releases and sales in North America during all these eight years, Clegg and his band managed to fill most of the venues. This success brought him to North America again in 2005 and he performed extensively in the U.S. and Canada. Next the toured in 2011, this time in Europe as well. Again next year, he performed in front of double the audience than before.

Johnny Clegg has a large cult following who are loyal enough not to miss any of his concerts. But don't just take any word for how great this man is. Keep a look out for his next concert in your city, book Johnny Clegg tickets and see for yourself.