JOHNNY CLEGG, critical reflections on his music and influence
320pp., b/w illus., paperback, Wits University Press, Johannesburg, 2025
ISBN: 9781776149643
A collection of essays that examine the legacy of Johnny Clegg (1953–2019), the South African musician, anthropologist and cultural activist who defied apartheid-era censorship and reshaped the nation’s musical and political landscape.
"If there is one book that Clegg's admirers and students must have, in addition to his autobiography of his early years, it is this one." David Coplan, author of In Township Tonight! Three centuries of South African music and theatre and Last Night at the Baseline, a tribute.
"Johnny Clegg's life was a story of bravery, curiosity, and community. This collection honours him not only as an artist, but also as a bridge across worlds - linguistic, cultural, and spiritual. It is a moving tribute to a man whose art helped birth a more liberated South Africa and whose spirit still walks among us, singing all the while." Zolani Mahola, singer, actress and storyteller
Contributions include:
"There’s a song to be sung: Critical reflections on the music and influence of Johnny Clegg" by Michael Drewett and Lucilla Spini
"'Woza moya omuhle’: Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu’s unifying cross-cultural brotherhood" by Andrew Grant Innes
"Johnny Clegg as interlocutor of African culture: A thematic analysis of a selection of his songs" by Martina Viljoen
"Johnny Clegg and the poetry and politics of migrant labour" by Richard Pithouse
"Lost or misconstrued: Johnny Clegg in Hollywood" by Chris Letcher
"From Juluka to Savuka: Johnny Clegg’s changing compositional practices" by Caleb Mutch
"Clegg is cancelled? Johnny Clegg and questions of Zulu cultural appropriation" by Brett Houston-Lock.
Michael Drewett is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Rhodes University. He is co-editor of Popular Music Censorship in Africa and Peter Gabriel: From Genesis to Growing Up.
Lucilla Spini is a bio-anthropologist and sustainability expert and is Senior Research Fellow at the Italian National Research Council’s Institute for Heritage Science.