Biography

I met Paul Simon and he said to me that he and Bob Dylan sat up for a whole night together listening to my albums one after another. That made me proud.

My records were becoming hits in South Africa, they were songs they were using to fight the Apartheid system. I didn't have clear knowledge of the embargo but if I had I still would have gone because it was what my singing was about. I was not going to Sun City to earn money, I was going to Soweto to sing to the people who had been using my music for freedom. I don't regret it. Before we went on we could feel tension in the air because all races were there, like something is going to erupt tonight but the moment I sang, people felt joy and happiness, because music brings all peoples together.

If I could change one thing about myself... I would try to control my generosity.

People in the Hall of Fame tend to clap their hands and say, 'OK, I've done it all,' but for me, it was a new beginning.

It was one of my dreams as a child, growing up in my little village with my cousins. We used to walk together, and I used to say, when you look at the world map, 'This town is there, that town is there, that river is there.' I used to say, 'One day, I'm going to travel these places.'