Google placed the jazz icon as its doodle to celebrate his birthday today, April 4th.
Hugh Masekela was a legendary jazz musician known as the “father of South African jazz” who was also an anti-apartheid activist.
Masekela was a rare artist who succeeded in fusing politics with his music, making his songs and performances compelling and timeless.
Affectionately known as “Bra Hugh” , died on January last year and the world-renowned trumpeter’s death shocked the globe. In 2017, he confirmed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Masekela would have been 80.
At the time of his death, Masekela was still making music. Rapper Ricky Rick revealed that the two were working on a project together at the time.
Fans took to social media to remember the music legend.
Trumpeter, singer and composer, Masekela, started playing the horn at 14. He quickly became an integral part of the 1950s jazz scene in Johannesburg as a member of the band the Jazz Epistles and a member of the orchestra in the groundbreaking jazz opera “King Kong”.
“My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are,” Masekela once said.
“Today’s Doodle celebrates the world-renowned South African trumpeter, singer, bandleader, composer, and human rights advocate Hugh Masekela,” a blog post by Google read.
Lala Ngoxolo.
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Main Image Credit: Google
