Valiant Swart (born Pierre Nolte, 25 November 1965), is a South African musician,

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

singer-songwriter, and actor from

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Career

Born in Wellington, he resided in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

. In 1977, at 11 years old, Valiant was given a guitar by his father and taught himself to play songs from artists like George Baker and

Joe Dolan Joseph Francis Robert Dolan (16 October 1939 – 26 December 2007) was an Irish entertainer, recording artist, and pop singer. Chiefly known in Ireland for his association with showbands and for his innovative style and high pitched singing ...

. Two years later he owned his first electric guitar. He writes and sings in both English and Afrikaans. The work that was begun by artists like

Anton Goosen Anton Goosen (born 5 March 1946) is a South African musician and songwriter. He became a pivotal figure in Afrikaans music and is generally regarded as the father of Afrikaans Rock. Early years As a young boy in school, Goosen was not consider ...

and, later,

Koos Kombuis Koos Kombuis (born ''André le Roux du Toit'', 5 November 1954) is a South African musician, singer, songwriter and writer who became famous as part of a group of anti-establishment maverick Afrikaans musicians, who, under the collective name ...

was continued by Swart. He has released a great number of albums debuting in 1996 with the album ''Die Mystic Boer''. In 2014, he released a collaboration with the South African rapper

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called ''Tema van jou lied''.

Sonvanger

He is most famous for his song "Sonvanger" (meaning ''sun catcher'') from his 2002 album ''Maanhare''. He wrote the song after the tragic suicide of a young Afrikaans musician from Stellenbosch. Swart wrote it with the musician's mother in mind, longing for her lost son. He adds in an interview: "The song has since taken on a life of its own; it seems to have brought comfort to a lot of bereaved people, which, to be honest, makes me feel real good." The song has been covered multiple times notably by Corlea Botha,

Jurie Els Jurie Els is a South African singer with a great number of albums and singles to his credit. He is owner of Stetson Music. Between 1994 and 2003, he was an artist and music producer with Sony, Johannesburg, South Africa. Els started singing profe ...

Laurika Rauch Laurika Rauch, (born 1 November 1950 in Cape Town) is a South African singer who performs in both Afrikaans and English. She had a hit single in 1979 with ''Kinders van die Wind'' (''Children of the Wind''), written by Koos du Plessis. The s ...

Karen Zoid Karen Zoid (born Karen Louise Greeff on 10 August 1978) is a South African Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer and talk show host. Her work in both English and Afrikaans has gathered critical acclaim, and she has been dubbed ...

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and Refentse.

Discography

Albums

*''Die Mystic Boer'' (1996) *''Dorpstraat Revisited'' (1996) *''Kopskoot'' (1997) *''Roekeloos'' (1998) *''Deur die Donker Vallei'' (1999) *''Boland Punk'' (2001) *''Maanhare'' (2002) *''Song vir Katryn'' (2003) *''‘n Jaar in die son'' (with

) (2003) *''@ Jinx'' (with Mel Botes) (2004) *''Mystic Myle'' (2005) *''Horisontaal'' (2006) *''Vuur en Vlam'' (with Ollie Viljoen) (2007) *''Vrydagaand/Saterdagaand'' (2008) *''Wild en Wakker'' (with Ollie Viljoen) (2010) *''Nagrit'' (2015)

Singles

*"Dis my Kruis" (1996) *"Boomtown hotel" (1996) *"Die skoene moet jy dra" (1996) *"Dis 'n honde lewe" (1997) *"Eldorado" (1997) *"Ware liefde" (1997) *"Eyeshadow" (1998) *"Roekeloos" (1998) *"Sonvanger" (2002) *"Matrooslied" (2002) *"Jakarandastraat" (2003) *"Liefde in die suburbs" (2003) *"Dans met my baby" (2003) *"Die sewe af" (2003) *"Lekker verby" (2003) *"Dad se vastrap" (2003) *"Horisontaal" (2006) *"Vaalhoed se baas" (2006) *"Spook en diesel" (2008) *"Heaven Hill blues" (2008) *"Tema van jou lied" (with

) (2014)

DVDs

*Live in die Staatsteater (2003)

Awards

*Best Afrikaans Traditional Music Album (with Ollie Viljoen)» MTN South African Music Award Winners , entertainment.bizcommunity.com
/ref> - Vuur en Vlam:

South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in N ...

2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swart, Valiant Afrikaans-language singers South African musicians 1965 births Place of birth missing (living people) Living people