Msizi Innocent Shabalala (born 1964) is a member of

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and '' mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Graceland'', and have won m ...

, a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n choral group founded in 1960 by his father

Joseph Shabalala Joseph Shabalala (28 August 1940 – 11 February 2020), was a South African singer and musician who was the founder and musical director of the choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Early life and career Shabalala was born in the town of ...

."Msizi Shabalala"
bol.com.

Background

Msizi was born in

Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...

(eMnambithi district),

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, to Joseph and his late wife Nellie Shabalala. In 1976, Joseph brought together his six sons to form Mshengu White Mambazo, Ladysmith's "junior choir", in which Msizi was a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

voice. After the murder of his uncle Headman Shabalala in December 1991 and the retirement of several other members ( Inos Phungula, Geophrey Mdletshe and Ben Shabalala), Joseph later recruited Msizi and his brothers Sibongiseni, Thamsanqa and Thulani. Msizi is a tenor voice alongside

Albert Mazibuko Mdletshe Albert Mazibuko is a member of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African choral group founded in 1960 by his cousin Joseph. Albert was born in Ladysmith, South Africa, and was the eldest of six sons; the others being Milton, Funokwakhe, ...

, and joined the group in 1993. However, he did not tour internationally with the group until 1998; between the years, Inos Phungula – a former member of the group – filled Msizi's place.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shabalala, Msizi Ladysmith Black Mambazo members 21st-century South African male singers 1964 births Living people Date of birth missing (living people) People from Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal 20th-century South African male singers