Johnny Clegg: Critical Reflections on his Music and Influence

This volume is an eye-opening, wonderfully diverse set of essays on the life and 
achievements of musician and political arts activist Johnny Clegg. It reaches from his 
identity struggles as a youngster to his self-created international achievements, fame, and 
laurels in South African and world music, written by those who knew him best and studied 
his ascent most intimately. If there is one book that Clegg’s admirers and students must 
have, in addition to his autobiography of his early years, it is this one.
 — David B. Coplan, author of In Township Tonight! Three Centuries of South African Music 
and Theatre
 This interdisciplinary study critically examines well-known South African performer 
and scholar Johnny Clegg’s cultural hybridity, resistance to apartheid, and broader 
impact on South African identity and politics.
 This book examines the profound legacy of Johnny Clegg (1953-2019), the South African 
musician, anthropologist and cultural activist who revolutionised the nation’s musical 
landscape. From his groundbreaking collaboration with Sipho Mchunu in the 1970s 
through to his success with Juluka and Savuka, and as a solo artist, Clegg navigated 
apartheid-era censorship while reshaping South African cultural politics.
 Drawing on unprecedented access to archival materials and band member 
interviews, this interdisciplinary research analyses Clegg’s unique position as both 
scholar and performer. The study presents three critical interventions: an examination 
of his synthesis of music, dance and political philosophy as embodied resistance to 
apartheid; an analysis of his transnational impact and navigation of the global cultural 
boycott; and an investigation of cultural appropriation and decolonial practice through 
his engagement with, and reinterpretation of Zulu traditions.
 Situated at the intersection of ethnomusicology, anthropology and African studies, 
this volume offers fresh theoretical frameworks for understanding cultural hybridity 
and postcolonial performance. It positions Clegg’s work within broader discussions of 
race, power and cultural production in the Global South.