Have you noticed that whenever one celebrity dies, one or two tend to follow? Celebrity death patterns are a curse that seems to get everyone confused. Are they a coincidence or is there something more to it that we just can't understand?
Read more: Hugh Masekela: Not everything is peaches and cream
Read more: Hugh Masekela: Not everything is peaches and cream
Bra Hugh as he was affectionally known was a trumpeter who was one of Mzansi’s most popular instrumentalists and an outspoken opponent of apartheid.
Masekela passed away at the age of 78 years on the early morning of 23 January 2018 from prostate cancer. His career spanned 5 decades during which he released 40 albums and worked with diverse artists. Masekela lived in the United States, Europe, and Africa and brought Mzansi’s unique rhythms and harmonies to international stages.
Masekela said in an interview:
“My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are.”
Zimbabwean artist, Oliver Mtukudzi, known as "Tuku" to his fans, died at the age of 66 on the 23rd of January 2019 at a clinic in Harare from complications related to diabetes.
Mtukudzi began his music career by singing alongside another Zimbabwean superstar, Thomas Mapfumo, in the band called Wagon Wheels.
Mapfumo had this to say about Mtukudzi after his passing:
“A dark cloud hovers above Zimbabwe.”
Mtukudzi's first album which was titled Africa was released shortly after Zimbabwe's independence and yielded two hits ‘Madzongonyedze ‘ and ‘Zimbabwe’ in his home country.
January 23rd would’ve remained a coincidence had it not been for the recent passing of composer and trombonist; Jonas Gwangwa’s who passed away four days ago, also on January 23rd.
Gwangwa who is the oldest on this list had persistent health issues for the last two years ago. , passed away 17 days after his wife’s passing at the age of 84 years. He passed away just two weeks after his wife, Violet Molebatsi Gwangwa died.
Main Image Credit: Instagram
Main Image Credit: Instagram
He was an ambassador for Mzansi’s music around the globe and an advocate against apartheid.
"He did everything that he could in his lifetime to show us the way. He's an example of what it means to be a South African, he shows that the power that lies within us is greater than the challenge that is without us."