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RINGO MADLINGOZI
13
December 2001
7 June 2001 with Special guest,
THEMBA MKHIZE
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There's no doubt about it: 1998
will go down in South Africa's musical history as the year Ringo Madlingozi conquered the
local music industry with his unique blend of contemporary and traditional rhythms and
beautifully distinctive voice. |
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At the annual
FNB South African Music awards, Ringo (as this artist is affectionately known by his fans)
scooped the award for Best Adult Contemporary Performance (languages other than English
and Afrikaans) for the 1997 release, Sondelani and was clearly one of the event's most
popular performances.
And then, in September '98, Ringo again triumphed at the annual Kora All-African Music
Awards by winning both the Best Southern African Artist and Best Male Artist categories.
Ringo's success at the Kora's is particularly significant as it points to this artists
ability to move beyond the confines of South African market and onto the global stage.
"It was a great honour winning the Best Male Artist award at the Kora's" he
says. "But when I'm working, I'm, really just concerned at ensuring that whatever I
do is a move on from my last work in terms of creativity and production. What winning
awards really does is offer a big challenge to me because I know people's eyes and ears
are on me and I'm pushed to develop my personal creativity."
It's astonishing to realise that it's only been two years since Ringo first burst into the
consciousness of South African music lovers as a solo artist with his first release,
Vukani ("Wake Up").
Sondelani (" Get Closer") took Ringo's creative ideas a step further. Released
at the end of September last year, the album has as its theme the call for unity, love,
peace and tolerance amongst South Africans, especially the country's youth who are,
through the songs, encouraged to stop sowing the seeds of hatred and death and unite in a
spirit of forgiveness. Many of the album's lyrics also deal with the social difficulties
faced by Africans all over the world.
Again, South African music lovers responded to Ringo's captivating songs and Sondelani
soon went Double platinum (100 000 units), making a milestone in Ringo's career.
Ringo's distinctive stage presence and voice as well as the band's unique sound got Peto
the attention of the South African listening public. The band won the Shell Road to Fame
contest in 1986, supported Eric Clapton at the King's Trust Concert in Swaziland and
enjoyed significant radio play with its debut album, Khaya.
When Peto disbanded, Ringo joined Gecko Moon and also began some impressive session work
with the likes of Simply Red, Teddy Pendergrass (The Power of One), The Lion King
soundtrack, Hugh Masekela and Caiphus Semenya.
In 1996, Ringo finally took the step towards going solo - and the rest is becoming
history. |
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