South African group “Ladysmith Black Mambazo” wins 5th Grammy’s

South African group “Ladysmith Black Mambazo” has won their fifth Grammy award on Sunday at the 60th Grammy awards ceremony held on January 28 and broadcasted live by CBS network from Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

The group won in the Best World Music Album category for their album “Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration.”  The South African male choral group was also nominated in two categories including the Best World Music Album category for ‘Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration’ and in the Best Children’s Album category for ‘Songs of Peace and Love For Kids and Parents Around The World’. 

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has won multiple awards including the South African Music Awards and has been nominated 19 Grammy’s, an Academy awards and an Emmy award. 

The all-men singing group rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album ‘Graceland’.  They have also featured on the track Lift Me Up, along with Norwegian duo Nico & Vinz, on David Guetta’s 2014 album Listen. 

The first incarnation of Ladysmith Black Mambazo was “Ezimnyama” (“The Black Ones”), formed by Joseph Shabalala in December 1960. 

Shabalala decided to change the name of the group to be more descriptive of its talent.  The name “Ezimnyama” was replaced by “Ladysmith Black Mambazo”. 

The three elements of the new name were: the hometown of Shabalala’s family, Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal; the black ox, considered to be the strongest farm animal; and mambazo, which means “axe” in the Zulu language, and is symbolic of the choir’s ability to “chop down” the competition. 

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