When the call came in from London early this morning I couldn't believe it. And then when I did I was so sad and so angry. Some miserable criminal bastards had murdered Lucky Dube
How COULD they?
Even more than the great Bob Marley, Lucky Dube (Doo-Bay) was my greatest reggae hero. I loved his songs from the first time I heard them. And when I finally had a chance to go to one of his concerts it was MAGICAL.
Lucky, his band, the backup singers and the Zulu dancers were absolutely fantastic. I got really close to the stage and tried.... as best as a klutzy white boy could.... to dance like them. Lucky looked down at me and smiled. It was the BEST reggae show I ever went to.
Lucky had so many great songs...from his anti-apartheid anthems like Prisoner, Slave, and House of Exile...to other more spiritual and joyful ones like Jah Live, Feel Irie, Reggae Strong. And so many others.
Unfortunately there aren't that many videos to choose from. But because he stood for resistance, freedom, love and a better world for EVERYONE....and his story was South Africa's story too.
I thought I'd play this one first...
You know...if my greatest living hero Nelson Mandela is the freedom heart of South Africa...for me Lucky Dube was its freedom singing voice.
The people of that beautiful country overcame the horror of Apartheid. Now they must deal with its ugly scars and stop killing each other.
Lucky, a soft spoken gentle man who never uttered a hateful word, tried to speak out against that crazy violence. But in the end it consumed him.
The only thing that consoles me now is that I KNOW that he will always be remembered... and his music will never die. Because he was a good man and a great artist.
And because you can kill the man, but you can't kill his music.
Like this song called Remember Me...
Oh brother. We WILL remember,
You and your beautiful freedom music WILL live forever.
But tonight I'm just so sad...
A fitting tribute to a great human being... he will be missed
ReplyDeleteFrom www.luckydubemusic
ReplyDelete" .... Lucky Dube was survived by his new wife Zanele and his 7 children Bongi, Nonkululeko, Thokozani, Laura, Siyanda, Philani and his brand new three-month old baby Melokuhle.
Should you wish to send a message of condolence to Lucky’s family, please email Lucky@gallo.co.za or fax on +27 (0) 11 340 9471."
Hi Reggaexx...he sure will be missed.I only saw him once and I was hoping so much to see him perform again. But hopefully his example will inspire others to bring back reggae music to where it once was...before dancehall and all that other crap came along...
ReplyDeleteHi Sassy!! thanks for the link. What a tragedy...so many kids and a little baby too.
You know one amazing thing for me was how many people all around the world read this post. I've never had so many people read any post of mine. It was INCREDIBLE. Once I used to think that Lucky hadn't got the credit he deserved. But now I KNOW he has fans all over the world who will always miss him and remember him.
I saw him in Montreal in the late 80s. Probably 1988-ish. On Mount Royal, free concert. It was truly magical. I counted something like a dozen musicians on stage with him. The music was rich, textured, absolutely amazing. So sad he bis gone now.
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