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tough, such a vibrant person.”
In 2017 Johnny went into remissio
and in April of that year he announce
he would be retiring – but not befor
putting on his Final Journey farewel
tour. “My chemo kind of carries m
through until January and after tha
it’s no man’s land. So I want to do a
much as I can now.”
He added that “living on a sentenc
made him appreciate everything mor
including spending time with his fa
ily and friends. The tour – which h
also took overseas – sent fans on a tri
down memory lane. Along with li
performances it included photos, vid
os and archive footage from his ear
days as part of Juluka right up until his
solo career in recent years.
It was vintage Johnny.
In an interview with YOU, our sister
publication, in January 2018 Johnny
looked frail but his spark was undimmed- as was that trademark twinkle in his
eye. He spoke animatedly about the Final
Journey tour and other subjects close to
his heart, such as the environment and
issues facing South Africa. “I think SA
is in a pretty dark place right now, but
I believe we have the tools to change it,”
he said. “I wrote a song recently called
Colour of My Skin, basically saying we’ve
had 23 years of democracy and yet col-
our is still such an important issue.”
Over the next few months his cancer
returned and he gave his final live perfor-
mance at Ellerman House in Cape Town
in November last year.
“He fought it right up until the end,”
Roddy says. “Even when he embarked on
his Farewell tour, the doctors told him it
wasn’t a good idea, but he didn’t listen.
He said he wanted to do it for his fans.”
A
S NEWS of his death broke,
tributes poured in from
across the world. In Pretoria
the flags at the Union Buil-
ding flew at half-mast – a ge-
sture usually reserved for
heads of state.
“A towering giant has fallen in the pas-
sing of the legendary singer/songwriter
and anthropologist,” tweeted minister of
arts and culture Nathi Mthethwa.
“He wrote our South African story
when our country was at its worst and
best,” DA leader Mmusi Maimane said.
Jesse, who followed in his father’s mu-
sical footsteps with a successful pop ca-
reer of his own, shared a heart-wren-chingpostonsocialmediawherehe
thankedhisfatherforthe“magicalgifts”
he’dleftbehind.“Youhaveinspiredme
bothasa musicianandasa manand
givenmethetoolstolivea meaningful
life.I willmissyoudeeplyandI struggle
toimaginea worldwithoutyou.
“ButI amcomfortedtoknowthatyour
wisdomandcompassionlivesoninallof
us.Hambakahle,Dad,beatpeace.You
havedonesomuchandwehonouryou.”
Award-winningjazzandAfro-popsin-
gerJudithSephumathankedJohnnyfor
helpingtoputSAontheworldmap.“The
minuteheintroducedourlanguageto
theworldit madea hugedifferenceon
howtheworldviewedus.”
Judithwasoneof 50 artistsacrossthe
musicalspectrumwhocollaboratedon
a tributerecordingofJohnny’shitThe
Crossinglatelastyear.
Throughouthislifeheresonatedmost
closelywithZuluculture,includingits
spiritualbeliefs.“HewroteTheCrossing
forhisfriend,Dudu[Ndlovu],a dancerinSavuka,whowasassassinated,”Roddy
says.“It’sabouthisspiritandhowthe
Zulusbelieveevenafteryou’vediedyour
soulstaysbehindforsometimeuntilthe
ancestorscallit.”
AccordingtoRoddy,Johnnywas“in-
crediblymoved”bythetribute.It’salso
helpedraisemoneyforcharity.Allpro-
ceedsfromdownloadsofthesonggoto
FriendsofJohnnyClegg– a fundcreated
tohelpalleviatetheeducationcrisisin
SA.Despitebeingseenasa national
treasure,UnitedKingdom-bornJohnny
remainedeternallyhumble.“Ifhewere
herenow,hewouldnothaveunder-
stoodthiscommotion[surroundinghis
death],”Roddysayswitha wrylaugh.
“Thiswasa manwhoif hewonany
award,evenanOBE(OrderoftheBritish
Empire),whichhereceivedin2015,
wouldalwaysquestionit.Nowhe’dbe
asking,‘WhydoI deservethis?’Johnny
saweveryoneaspartofa brotherhood.
Healwayssaidweareallinthisworld
together.”RIGHT:Ayoung
Johnnydoinga
traditionalZulu
dance.LEFT:With
hisbandSavuka
inSanFrancisco,
USA,in1990.Johnny performs with his
Juluka partner, Sipho Mchunu,
at GrandWest Casino in Cape
Town in June 2017 as part of his
Final Journey farewell tour.
RIGHT: On stage with his son
Jesse at the Dome in Joburg
in November 2017.http://www.drum.co.za 1 AUGUST 2019 | (^73)