Lucky Dube was a South African reggae musician and Rastafarian. His music was inspired by the political movement to fight the apartheid system in South Africa.
Throughout a successful 25-year-year period of his career, Dube recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English, and Afrikaans. He was South Africa’s biggest-selling reggae artist and considered by many to be one of the greatest musicians Of all time.
Lucky Dube was murdered in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, on October 18, 2007.
Lucky Dube Biography
Lucky Philip Dube was born on August 3, 1964, in Ermelo, now in Mpumalanga, South Africa. His mother named him “Lucky” after a series of miscarriages before his birth. Dube’s parents separated before his birth, and he was raised by his mother, who left him and his two siblings, Thandi and Mandla, with his grandmother, Sarah, because she had to work.
Career
Like many African children, Dube had to work to feed the family. He worked as a gardener but soon realized he wasn’t earning enough for his family. So he enrolled in school, where he joined a choir and formed his first musical ensemble, The Skyway Band, with some friends.
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Later, he discovered the Rastafari movement and joined his cousin’s band, The Love Brothers, at 18. The band played Zulu pop music known as mbaqanga. Dube was also working for Hole and Cooke as a security guard at the car auctions in Midrand.
The Love Brothers signed with Teal Record Company under Richard Siluma. Dube was still in school, so he didn’t follow the band to record their album lyrics. The album was eventually released under the name Lucky Dube and the Supersoul. Another album followed, and this time, Dube wrote some of the lyrics and sang them. During this period, he began to learn the English Language.
After releasing the fifth album, Dube’s sound engineer, Dave Segal, encouraged him to drop the Supersoul part of the band’s name. As a result, his subsequent albums were released under the Lucky Dube name. Dube also noticed that fans responded well to the reggae songs he played during live concerts.
Inspired by Jimmy Clifford, a Jamaican reggae star, Dube felt the socio-political messages in Jamaica were relevant to what was happening in South Africa’s racist society. He switched to reggae style and released a mini-album, Rastas Never Die, in 1984. The album sold only around 4000 units, very poor compared to the 30,000 units his mbaqanga records would sell. In addition, the apartheid regime banned the album in 1985 because of its critical lyrics, especially in the song War and Crime.
However, Dube was not discouraged as he continued to perform the song to a live audience and even released another reggae album, Think About The Children, in 1985. Think About The Children was a hit and achieved a platinum sales status which established Dube as a star reggae artist in South Africa and beyond.
Dube continued to release commercially successful songs, which earned him several awards and recognition. In 1993, his album, Victims, sold over one million copies worldwide. He also signed with a popular American record label, Motown, and released the first album Trinity under Tabu Records, which Motown acquired.
His 1996 compilation album, Serious Reggae Business, earned him the “Best Selling African Recording Artist” at the World Music Awards and the “International Artist of the Year” at the Ghana Music Awards. Again, his most recent album, Respect, was released through a deal with Warner Music.
Dube also had successful international tours where he shared the stage with music stars like Sinéad O’Connor, Peter Gabriel, and Sting. Apart from music, Dube had a brief acting stint where he featured in films like Voice in the Dark, Getting Lucky, and Lucky Strikes Back.
Dube is considered especially remarkable as a Dub Artist due to using the platform to express themes of apartheid and internal displacement in South Africa. He used dub to express his feelings about slavery and colonialism in Africa. Dub was also a platform he took to promote racial equality to abolish the apartheid system in South Africa.
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Lucky Dube Songs
Lucky Dube was known for numerous hit songs that still resonate today. Here’s his discography:
- Rastas Never Dies
- Think About The Children
- Slave (1989)
- Prisoner (1990)
- Together as one (1992)
- House of exile (1992)
- Captured Live (1993)
- Victims (1993)
- Trinity (1995)
- Serious reggae business (1996)
- Taxman (1997)
- The Way It Is (1999)
- The Rough Guide To Lucky Dube (2001)
- Soul Taker (2001)
- The other side (2005)
- Respect (2006)
Awards
- 1989 – won four OKTV Awards for Prisoner.
- 1990 – won one OKTV Award for Captured Live.
- 1991 – won two OKTV Awards for House of Exile.
- 1996 – named “Best Selling African Recording Artist” at the World Music Awards.
- 1996 – named “International Artist of the Year” at the Ghana Music Awards.
- Each of his next three albums won in the South African Music Awards.
Death
Lucky Dube was shot dead by armed robbers in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, on October 18, 2007. He had just dropped two of his seven children off at their uncle’s house. Dube was driving a Chrysler 300C, which the robbers had spotted and wanted to take.
Other reports suggest his murderers shot him dead because they couldn’t recognise him and thought he was a Nigerian. Five men were arrested for his murder. Three were tried and found guilty on March 31, 2009. Two attempted to escape prison but were caught. They were all sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Family
Lucky Dube was married to Zanele Mdluli. They were blessed with seven children. He was dropping off two of the kids at their uncle’s house before he was shot dead. His last born was just a month old when he died.
Legacy
Lucky Dube was one of the first African artists to bring the reggae genre to mainstream music. He bridged cultural gaps within the African diaspora with his songs. He gave Africa a voice and put its culture on the global stage by joining the global reggae community. Inspired by the socio-political messages in Jamaica, Dube exposed the oppression and political struggles of black South Africans to the world.
Dube’s roots in reggae music show how Africans could mimic the black diaspora and still retain their authenticity. On October 21, 2008, Rykodisc released a compilation album entitled Retrospective in the United States featuring some of Dube’s hit songs to celebrate his contributions to abolishing the apartheid system in South Africa.
In Australia, Dube’s music was popular among the Aborigines communities. His 2005 tour in Australia was a huge success, with many of the aborigines in most of central and northern Australia dubbing him as “bigger than the Beatles.”
