Caiphus Semenya

Johannesburg-based singer who first appeared on the music scene with The Dining Brothers in the mid-1950s. In 1959 he joined the cast of the musical King Kong.

In 1964 he contributed towards the score of Gibson Kente’s musical Manana – The Jazz Prophet. He later joined the cast of Sponono with whom he toured the USA.

He did not return to South Africa at the time and instead joined A&M records as a songwriter and producer. He married Letta Mbulu. Over the next two decades he worked with several USA musicians including Quincy Jones. Lou Rawls and Michael Jackson.

He released his first solo album, Listen To The Wind in 1982, it included the single “Angelina”. He went on to record the album Streams Today, Rivers Tomorrow (1984) and Woman Got A Right To Be (1996).

He has also recorded and released music with Letta Mbulu.

Letta Mbulu

Soweto-based singer who was a member of the Skylarks, replacing Miriam Makeba when she left South Africa.

She then toured England and the United States with the King Kong musical before settling in the United States. She went on to enjoy a long and successful solo career, releasing her debut album, Letta Mbulu Sings in 1968.

She went on to release singles and albums regularly throughout the late 60s, 70s and early 80s with a less regular album releases thereafter.

Miriam Makeba

Singer who began her singing career in Johannesburg in the 1950s, most notably with the Skylarks. She was cast in the musical King Kong and when it toured overseas she remained there, choosing life in exile to returning to apartheid South Africa.

She went on to a hugely successful solo career, also releasing an album with Harry Belafonte. Some of her most notable albums were An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba (1966), Pata Pata (1968), Sabelani (1979), Sangoma (1988) and Welela (1989).

She returned to South Africa in the early 1990s and continued to release albums and perform until her death in 2008.