This #Weekend in Cape Town
Johnny Clegg - The Final Journey
Where:
Grand Arena ,GrandWest - Cape Town, Western Cape
When:
Saturday July 1st at 7 PM - 10 PM
Johnny Clegg embarks on The Final Journey World Tour
Nearly forty years after he began one of music’s most
remarkable careers, Johnny Clegg is embarking on his Final World Tour, titled
The Final Journey.
Johnny Clegg was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and underwent
chemotherapy treatment. Throughout the treatment he continued to tour locally
and internationally undertaking a nine week tour of USA and CANADA in 2016.
Johnny is currently finishing a new album and his autobiography. As he is in
remission, Johnny has decided to use this opportunity to perform a final set of
concerts in SA and overseas to thank his fans for their support over the 35
year long journey that spans his career.
Through his bands Juluka and Savuka, Clegg pioneered a
uniquely South African hybrid music during a time of cultural and racial
segregation. His music always offered a vision of how South Africans could find
each other and the possibilities of a non-racial future. For this reason, the
South African leg of the tour has tremendous import for him as it was South
Africa and all South Africans that shaped him as an artist.
The tour will be built around Clegg’s unparalleled
repertoire of songs which began with the release of Juluka’s Universal Men in
1979 and continued through the Savuka years and his more recent solo work.
Clegg’s many different hits and live favourites will be
brought to life by the biggest production ever created for a Clegg live show,
supported by his world-class live band. A highlight of the shows will be the
different styles of dance that have been integral to Clegg’s life and work,
ever since he learnt the fundamentals of Zulu music and traditional Zulu
Inhlangwinini dancing with Charlie Mzila while still a teenager. Guest artists
include the Soweto Gospel Choir.
As the tour unfolds, there will be some special surprises
lined up for the audiences.
Johnny Clegg said "This will be my final set of public
performances for my fans in SA and around the world. I am immensely excited to
be able to bring to them an autobiographical, audio-visual and intimate account
of my life through my music and The Dance. "
“Johnny Clegg is more than just one of this country’s finest
musicians and entertainers. He is a national treasure who has brought together
all South Africans and reminded us of what makes us great as a country.” says
Cyril Ramaphosa.
"Johnny is taking time off to write his autobiography
and spend time with his family and do the things he hasn't been able to do due
to an incredible work schedule", said long time Johnny Clegg manager and
promoter Roddy Quin. “It's been a privilege to have travelled such a long
journey with Johnny and an honour to have worked and shared so many incredible
experiences with him. It has truly been inspiring. And so we are excited to
present The Final Journey with incredible shows in SA in July and the tour,
which will stretch across the world over the next few months. Johnny will still
continue writing, recording and will partake in a few private
engagements."
Johnny Clegg: The Final Journey World Tour represents the
peak of a career that has combined near matchless music success with sustained
- and significant - social, political and cultural impact.
Clegg’s recorded output as part of Juluka, Savuka and solo
has earned him millions of record sales, countless awards and nominations
(including a Grammy nomination) and multiple international releases, all
eagerly consumed by a truly global audience. He was the forerunner of combining
Western musical styles with African ones, sparking a revolution in South
African music that can be still be heard in the work of artists today.
Most potently, Clegg’s ability to illuminate the
connectedness of all human beings through his music meant he was a pioneer of
social cohesion in South Africa. He also provided a portal for international audiences
to gain a deeper understanding of the anti-apartheid movement and the journey
towards, and ultimately into, freedom. For this, Clegg has received many
different honours including an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British
Empire), the South African Order of Ikhamanga and the French Chevalier des Arts
et Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters) , as well as several honorary
doctorates.

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