Hugh Masekela would have been 80 today, a birthday that Google is honouring with a vibrant doodle of him on their search bar. The Google doodle shows a man in a brightly coloured shirt playing the trumpet. But you might never have heard of Masekela until now.
Who is Hugh Masekela?
Hugh Ramapolo Masekela was a South African musician and pioneering jazz artist.
He was born in Kwa-Guqa township, Witbank, a coal mining settlement near Johannesburg and died on January 23, 2018 at the age of 78.
His father, Thomas, was a health inspector and sculptor, and his mother, Pauline (nee Bowers), was a social worker.
Masekela was a famous trumpet player and a talented, Flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and singer.
He wanted a trumpet after seeing the 1950 film Young Man With a Horn, and was given his own instrument when he was 14.
His music explored South African styles and he avidly followed developments in the American jazz scene, later becoming famous for developing a distinctive Afro-jazz sound.
He was dubbed “the father of South African Jazz” and was famous for his powerful jazz compositions and anti-apartheid songs.
He wrote a string of songs attacking the apartheid regime including “Soweto Blues” and “Bring Him Back Home.”
His fierce opposition to apartheid led him to be exiled from South Africa for 30 years.
Masekela returned to his homeland under the leadership of Nelson Mandela after spending years living and working in the USA and Botswana.
He enjoyed international celebrity status and played for presidents, royalty and huge concert audiences around the world.
But his fame didn’t stop him from being a fierce critic of political regimes across the globe.
Masekela often collaborated with other musical greats including Tsepo Tshola and Busi Mhlongo.
A passionate promoter of African culture, Masekela said: “I’ve got to where I am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found – the wealth of African culture.
“My biggest obsession is to show Africans and the world who the people of Africa really are.”