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Mbube – The Lion
The story behind the original South African song Mbube, by Solomon Linda’s Original Evening Birds, which was turned into the worldwide hit known as the Lion Sleeps Tonight
‘Mbube’ or the Lion by Solomon Linda’s Original Evening Birds is a track that grew from a half-improvised two minute song recorded in Johannesburg in the 1930s and then, through a series of cultural misappropriations, was rewritten into a worldwide hit – Wimoweh or The Lion Sleeps Tonight. It later became part of Disney’s huge international Lion King phenomenon. But did any of the money make it back to Linda and his family?
Produced by Rami Tzabar for 91Èȱ¬ World Service.
Image: Record label artwork, 91Èȱ¬
Last on
Mon 18 Mar 2019
04:50GMT
91Èȱ¬ World Service South Asia
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- Sat 16 Mar 2019 05:50GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except East and Southern Africa & South Asia
- Sun 17 Mar 2019 15:50GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service East and Southern Africa
- Sun 17 Mar 2019 22:50GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
- Mon 18 Mar 2019 04:50GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service South Asia