Voting Station

Johnny Clegg

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Vocalist

The Resume

    (June 7, 1953-July 16, 2019)
    Born in Bacup, England, United Kingdom
    Settled in South Africa at age 6
    Led the bands Juluka and Savuka
    Blended traditional South African music with European influences
    With Juluka recorded the albums 'Universal Men' (1979), 'African Litany' (1981), 'Scatterings' (1982), 'Work For All' (1983), 'Stand Your Ground' (1984) and 'Musa Ukungilandela' (1984)
    With Savuka recorded the albums 'Third World Child' (1987), 'Shadow Man' (1988), 'Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World' (1990) and 'Heat, Dust and Dreams' (1993)
    Solo recorded the albums 'New World Survivor' (2002), 'One Life' (2006) and 'Human' (2010)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was nicknamed 'the white Zulu.'
    'Melody Maker' attacked him for plundering African music, calling him a 'cultural transvestite.'
    He was accused of hypocrisy for agreeing to play at a music festival at Dhakla in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara, which many observers felt was the equivalent of playing Sun City during South Africa's apartheid era. (He ultiimately cancelled due to outbreaks of rioting at the festival.)

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a former assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Witwaterstrand.
    Because his bands were racially integrated, he was harassed by South African police and his records were banned from state radio.
    He told 'Rolling Stone,' 'I want to be able to play to everybody.... It's a simple thing. But in South Africa, it's a political issue.'
    He performed at all of Nelson Mandela's 46664 AIDS Awareness Concerts.
    At the height of his success, a Savuka concert in Lyon, France, sold more tickets than Michael Jackson, prompting one newspaper to observe, 'White man singing black music outsells black man singing white music.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 43 Votes: 51.16% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 27 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 33.33% Annoying