Lucky Dube

South African reggae artist Lucky Dube got his start playing traditional Zulu mbaqanga music, and he released several albums in that style. ∙ Inspired by the music of Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff, he switched to reggae on the 1984 mini-LP Rastas Never Die, which was banned by South Africa’s apartheid government. ∙ Think About the Children—Dube’s 1986 album recorded in secret when his record company pressured him to return to mbaqanga music—went Platinum and made him a star. ∙ He found a global audience with his 1987 LP, Slave, which sold 500,000 copies worldwide, while 1989’s Prisoner and 1993’s Victims both surpassed 1 million sales. ∙ In 1991, he became the first South African artist to perform at Jamaica’s Reggae Sunsplash festival, and he was invited back to headline the following year. ∙ Issued by Tabu Records, which had recently been acquired by Motown, his 1995 LP Trinity made Dube the first South African artist to have an album released by the iconic label. ∙ Dube won several South African Music Awards, including a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, just a few months after his death.