Origins & Early Life

Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and for writing well-known anti-apartheid songs such as "Soweto Blues" and "Bring Him Back Home". He also had a number-one US pop hit in 1968 with the song "Grazing in the Grass", which was later covered by various other artists. Hugh Ramapolo Masekela was born in Witbank (now called Emalahleni), South Africa, to Thomas Selema Masekela, who was a health inspector and sculptor; and his wife, Pauline Bowers Masekela, a social worker.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His younger sister Barbara Masekela is a poet, educator and ANC activist. As a child, he began singing and playing piano and was largely raised by his grandmother, who ran an illegal bar for miners. At the age of 14, after seeing the 1950 film Young Man with a Horn (in which Kirk Douglas plays a character modelled on American jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke), Masekela took up playing the trumpet. His first trumpet was bought for him from a local music store by Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, the anti-apartheid...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

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