LETTA MBULU


Singer, songwriter and actress Letta Mbulu grew up in Soweto where she was influenced by traditional and contemporary urban South African music. As a teenager she joined the cast of the hit musical King Kong, which toured England and soon after she went into exile in the USA where she performed at the Village Gate in New York City to critical acclaim. Letta was noticed by and invited to tour with the late, great saxophonist, Cannonball Adderley and met Harry Belafonte with whom she performed on several world tours.

She sang much of the music for the series Roots Part I and II for which she won an Emmy Award and a Gold record, she also sang on a track for Michael Jackson's Bad album. All of Letta's solo albums have gone Platinum and her 1992 release Not Yet Uhuru was her first album recorded back from Exile in South Africa. It was arranged, produced and composed by her husband, musician Caiphus Semenya whom she married while in exile in the USA. Caiphus and Letta performed together for the first time in South Africa in the Unity '91 Festival.

Her acting credits include A Warm December with Sidney Poitier and Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones' The Colour Purple. She has narrated a documentary film on the role of women in South Africa entitled You Struck A Rock and has acted on local television dramas. In 1987 Letta played a lead role alongside Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and other famous South African musicians in the musical Buwa by Caiphus Semenya, touring Africa. Letta's powerful stage presence and stunning vocal range, coupled with the hope so central to her lyrics, makes her one of South Africa's most outstanding artists.