Craig Lucas

With their fusion of funk, rock and Celtic strains with Zulu sounds and lyrics, Savuka became one of South Africa’s most prominent musical exports. Formed by Johnny Clegg, the son of white British expats, in 1986 after the breakup his group Juluka, Savuka was a multiracial band that tested apartheid-era laws and dedicated their anthem "Asimbonanga”, off their 1987 debut Third World Child, to anti-apartheid heroes like Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko. As a result, the song—later covered by Joan Baez and the Soweto Gospel Choir—led to concert shut-downs by the government and to band members’ arrests. “Scatterlings of Africa” introduced the band to the West, while Clegg demonstrated his mastery of Western pop forms on 1989’s Cruel, Crazy Beautiful World, scoring another hit with “Dela”. Savuka called it quits after the 1993 release of Heat, Dust and Dreams, a tribute to their murdered percussionist, Dudu Zulu.