MUSICIAN

Hugh Masekela

1939 - 2018

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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 his version of "Grazing in the Grass". Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Hugh Masekela is the 1,250th most popular musician (up from 1,354th in 2019), the 104th most popular biography from South Africa (up from 107th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular South African Musician.

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Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, Hugh Masekela ranks 1,250 out of 3,175Before him are Michael Sembello, Joey Kramer, Greg K., Louis Jordan, Arif Mardin, and Norah Jones. After him are Mieczysław Horszowski, Yoshiki, Richard Marx, Daryl Hall, Phil Campbell, and Jimmy Cobb.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1939, Hugh Masekela ranks 356Before him are Renée Schuurman, Jimmie Nicol, Pierluigi Pizzaballa, Yaakov Neeman, Valentin Afonin, and Carlos Alberto Silva. After him are Alessandra Panaro, Klavdiya Boyarskikh, Günter Bernard, Melinda Dillon, Carmelo Bossi, and Jorge Toro. Among people deceased in 2018, Hugh Masekela ranks 291Before him are Anne Treisman, Andrei Bitov, Otis Rush, Tony Joe White, Piotr Szulkin, and Angelo Vanzin. After him are George Maxwell Richards, Susan Anspach, Sergei Mavrodi, Ion Ciubuc, Zvonko Bego, and María Dolores Pradera.

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In South Africa

Among people born in South Africa, Hugh Masekela ranks 104 out of 454Before him are Koos de la Rey (1847), Julius Malema (1981), Bruce Grobbelaar (1957), Renée Schuurman (1939), Jamie Uys (1921), and Claude Chevalley (1909). After him are Ernest Leonard Johnson (1891), Alfred Swift (1931), Oscar Pistorius (1986), Max Gluckman (1911), Alan Paton (1903), and John Kani (1943).

Among MUSICIANS In South Africa

Among musicians born in South Africa, Hugh Masekela ranks 3Before him are Manfred Mann (1940), and Abdullah Ibrahim (1934). After him are Trevor Rabin (1954), Lucky Dube (1910), Eddie Kramer (1942), J. R. Rotem (1975), and Kevin Shirley (1960).