Leadership (Abuja)
21 October 2007
Abuja — The 43-year-old international star was shot Thursday night in an apparent car snatching attempt by men suspected to be armed robbers in Johannesburg's southern Rosettenville suburb. A spokeswoman for the police said the late star was dropping his son off in the suburb when the incident occurred.
Late Lucky Dupe, another eye witness, rendering a graphic account,disclosed that he was shot in his Chrysler sedan car by two men who opened his door.In an attempt to escape,the wounded musician drove away and hit another car, causing him to lose control and hit a tree. All attempt by medics to revive him failed as he reportedly died on the spot.
Dube recorded more than 20 albums in a career spanning more than two decades.
Respect
The singer switched to reggae style in the 1980s to express his anger against South Africa's former racist white-minority regime.
He would be remembered as one of South Africa's best selling artistes and one of its most outspoken performers.. The late South African reggae sensation was the son of a single mother who thought she could not have children. Her first child therefore was given the name "Lucky".
The late artiste had a tough upbringing and lived in turn, with his mother, grandmother, and an uncle. He began to sing in bars in his home town and in church. He and his comrades began drumming around and started a band, but they couldn't afford to buy instruments. They tried to persuade rich people to sponsor them but, when they were unsuccessful, Lucky Dube wrote a play that the guys performed. This brought in just enough to purchase a guitar, and they started the Skyway Band .
Although, he initially sang in the traditional Zulu mbaganga style, his move to reggae in 1984 was sparked by his quest to express his anger against the oppression of apartheid. The spirit of Lucky Dube's music and dance, epitomizes the spirit of Black liberation. His lyrics brought an original voice to reggae by chronicling the political and spiritual struggles of his South African brethren.
Dube's musical talents were obvious from an early age. By the age of nine, he was conducting his school choir. After singing with school rock and roll bands, he joined his cousin, Richard Siluma's Mbaganga band, The Love Brothers. Together with the group, he recorded his first single in 1979.
Inspired by the controversal lyrics of Peter Tosh, Dube moved to reggae in 1984. His earliest attempts with the newly-adopted style were met by strong opposition by the then-all-white South African government and his first reggae album, Rasta Never Die was banned from radio airplay.
Without notifying his record label, Dube re-entered the recording studio and cut a second reggae album, Think About The Children. The album became a major hit and achieved gold record status. Dube's third reggae album, Slave, sold more than five hundred thousand copies
He had his baptism of fire as a reggae artiste when he played at the Sunsplash Festival in Jamaica, before the world's most critical reggae audiences, and was a success.
Lucky Dube makes a type of melodious, African reggae that slowly but surely turned him into a superstar. With the song, Together As One, he became the first black artiste in South Africa to be played on a white radio station. He had no formal musical education, but nevertheless played several instruments and arranged his own songs.
his last hit album, was released in April this year, just before his untimely death.
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