Jo Black

An Afrikaans singer and songwriter also known in South Africa as a motivational speaker and media personality, Jo Black delivers inspirational songs in an accessible rock style. He made his major-label debut with the album Skepe in 2016, and he cracked the Top Ten of the singles chart in 2019 with "Voel Jy die Genade." Raised in Pretoria, South Africa, Jo Black (born Jo Engelbrecht) began working while still a schoolboy, eventually running his own construction company as an adult. After eight years as an entrepreneur, his professional life took a turn when he decided that there should be more to life than merely work. He started Be That Guy (and, later, Be That Girl), a self-help movement intended to empower people through positive thinking. Black presented his talks at over 200 schools across the country before recording his first album, a collection of inspirational mainstream rock titled Skepe. Released by Universal in 2016, it included collaborations with songwriters such as Johan Vorster and Christoph Kotzé. The record became a hit, with the video for the title track racking up over a million views within six months of its release. Black followed up with Voel Jy die Genade in 2019, and that album's title track became his highest-charting single to date when it peaked at number eight. ~ Marcy Donelson