World renown and founder of the Grammy Award-winning group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Joseph Shabalala, has died at a hospital in Pretoria, his family announced on Tuesday.
According to the family, Shabalala has been fighting poor health since his retirement from the group some five years ago.
The singer was born on 28 August 1941 and was well known for his unique bass vocals in the all-male acapella group that uses traditional music for its compositions.
The group received airplay on Ukhozi FM (then Radio Zulu), which led to them winning a recording contract with Gallo Records in 1970.
The group achieved international fame when they collaborated with US superstar Paul Simon on his bestselling Graceland album in 1986.
The group has scooped five Grammy Awards with the latest as recent as 2018 for Best World Music Album.
In April last year President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Shabalala at his home. The president at the time remarked that the musician was in good spirits despite his poor health.
NM/jn/APA