Kongos (often styled as KONGOS) is a South African American band, now based in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. The

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

group consists of four brothers: Dylan (vocals, bass guitar, guitar), Johnny (accordion, keyboards, vocals), Jesse (drums, percussion, vocals) and Daniel Kongos (guitar, vocals).

Beginnings

They spent their childhoods in the city of East London, South Africa. They compose, record and perform in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Texas. They graduated from Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona and attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. The four men are the sons of recording artist

John Kongos John Theodore Kongos (born 6 August 1945) is a South African-born singer and songwriter of Greek ancestry, best known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "He's Gonna Step on You Again", on which Happy Mondays based their hit " Step On". His other big ...

. They are of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

origin and have attended the Greek Saheti school in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

, South Africa.

History

''Lunatic'' (2011–2015)

The band's second album ''

Lunatic Lunatic is an antiquated term referring to a person who is seen as mentally ill, dangerous, foolish, or crazy—conditions once attributed to "lunacy". The word derives from ''lunaticus'' meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck". History The te ...

'' was released in 2012. The single "I'm Only Joking" topped various South African charts, including all three of

Tuks FM Tuks FM is the radio station of the University of Pretoria and one of South Africa's community broadcasters. It was one of the first community broadcasters in South Africa to be given an FM licence. Previously renowned for its alternative rock ...

's charts, and received copious airtime on

5FM 5FM is a South African FM radio station that follows a Top 40 music format and is owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), South Africa's public broadcaster. SABC announced the appointment of Mr. JD Mostert as Business Manag ...

and on many other stations in South Africa. The music video for the song debuted on TV 5 on

SABC 3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own r ...

and was in rotation on MKTV. Their second single "Come with Me Now" was in rotation on both 5FM and Tuks FM. The song appeared on the 5FM Top 40 and the Tuks FM Top 30 charts. In late October 2013, the band self-released ''Lunatic'' in the United States. In 2014, both "I'm Only Joking" and " Come with Me Now", the latter of which being their top song, began receiving noticeable exposure in the United States, gaining momentum in airplay on radio and being featured in television commercials there. Their song "Come with Me Now" was used as the official theme song for WWE's

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

event '' Extreme Rules'' and in the motion picture ''The Expendables 3''. As a result, the band was signed by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

in late January 2014 and the band re-released ''Lunatic''. "Come with Me Now" had sold more than 70,000 copies as of March 2014, but has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA, signifying sales of more than a million copies.

''Egomaniac'' (2016)

On 27 March 2016, Kongos announced via their newsletter that their third album, ''Egomaniac'', would be released on 10 June 2016 and that the first single, "Take It from Me", would premiere on 15 April. On 28 April 2016, the second instant grat track "I Don't Mind" was released to album pre-order customers. The official Egomaniac tour was announced in June 2016 commencing in September.

''The Front Lounge, Bus Call, and 1929''

On 16 November 2017, the band released the first installment of their new podcast, The Front Lounge, to be updated weekly. It was here they hinted towards the documentary of their lives on the road while touring for three years. The band officially announced the documentary, titled Bus Call, on 31 January 2018. On 5 February 2018, the band released the title of their fourth album, ''1929'', with no further information. They had been sharing photos and videos from their studio, hinting towards the album’s release on their social media pages. ''1929, Pt. 1'' was released on 18 January 2019. ''1929, Pt. 2'' was released on 11 October 2019.

Members

Dylan Kongos Dylan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Bob Dylan (born 1941), American singer and songwriter ** ''Dylan'' (1973 album), a 1973 album by Bob Dylan ** ''Dylan'' (2007 album), a 2007 compilation album by Bob Dylan * Dylan (musician), profess ...

– vocals, bass guitar, guitar, lead guitar (2007-2011), keyboards, programmer * Johnny Kongos – accordion, keyboards, programmer, vocals * Jesse Kongos – drums, percussion, programmer, vocals * Daniel Kongos – guitar, vocals

In popular culture

The film '' Holy Motors'', and the video game '' Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel'' used " Come with Me Now" in the trailer, The Claptrap Trailer, and WWE also used this song as the theme for their 2014 pay-per-view event '' Extreme Rules''. It is also the theme song for the Australian version of reality television series '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' since 2015. It was used in the soundtrack to the movie '' The Expendables 3'' and for the trailer to the automotive show ''

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November ...

''. The song was also used in an advertisement for

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...

, as well as an advertisement for Strongbow

Discography

* ''Kongos'' (2007) * ''

'' (2012) * '' Egomaniac'' (2016) * ''1929, Pt. 1'' (2019) * ''1929, Pt. 2'' (2019) * ''1929, Pt. 3'' (2022)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Family musical groups Musicians from Phoenix, Arizona Arizona State University alumni People from Johannesburg Musicians from Scottsdale, Arizona South African musical groups South African people of Greek descent South African people of American descent American people of Mexican descent White South African people South African rock music groups South African alternative rock groups Epic Records artists