1960s Rupert Bopape, a renowned talent scout and businessman, joined
Gallo Africa in 1964 with the instruction to form a new ‘black music’ subsidiary, later named Mavuthela Music. His first group was a revolving line-up of female session singers that would record under various pseudonyms to compete with established girl groups such as the Sweet Sixteens and the Dark City Sisters and featuring Bopape’s ‘discovery’ Simon ‘Mahlathini’ Nkabinde as a male soloist and backed by a house band later christened Makgona Tsohle. The demand saw the group ensconced in nationwide tours that lasted several weeks or months, with additional visits to
Lesotho,
Botswana,
Swaziland, the then-
Rhodesia,
Zambia,
Malawi and
Mozambique. They spent the rest of the decade recording for competing labels and performing on stage as ‘Mahlathini and the Queens’. Also during this period, Bopape began to farm out production duties to Makgona Tsohle Band members including West Nkosi, who produced the first commercial recordings by Zulu choir
Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Rhodesia-based The Green Arrows. and on the day of his funeral, the death was announced of Marks Mankwane. The Queens and Mahlathini – by now also in fragile health – paid tribute to the two musicians with the recording of a new album,
Umuntu, featuring George Mangxola on lead guitar. Mahlathini died in July 1999, just after the completion of
Umuntu.
2000s Despite the retirements and deaths of several significant band members, the Mahotella Queens decided to continue with their music careers and formed a new backing band of young mbaqanga musicians. In 2000, they released a 14-track comeback album,
Sebai Bai, recorded in Johannesburg and Paris and dedicated to Mahlathini, Mankwane and Nkosi. In the same year, the Queens received the second annual
WOMEX Award for outstanding contribution to world music. The Queens embarked on successful tours of the United States and Europe during the next few years, which included appearances at the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and New York’s
SOB's. In 2004, the Queens released the experimental
Bazobuya album, which fused their familiar mgqashiyo sound with house. The following year, the group resigned from Gallo after forty years and released
Reign & Shine, another album departing from their usual sound, this time featuring mostly a cappella numbers with occasional guitar and percussion. To support the release, the Queens toured the United Kingdom as the support act for
Ladysmith Black Mambazo between May and June 2006. The Queens headlined
WOMAD 2006 in July. In 2007, the Queens released
Siyadumisa (Songs of Praise), a mbaqanga-gospel album. The group completed a tour of Europe on 25 August 2007 in which they performed their new material at various WOMAD festivals. The Queens also performed at venues in South Africa during late 2007 and 2008.
2010s The Mahotella Queens appeared as part of
Pee Wee Ellis's show
Still Black, Still Proud: An African Tribute to James Brown during 2010. South African jazz artist
Hugh Masekela joined forces with the Mahotella Queens for a special UK tour for November 2010. Their performance in London's
Southbank Centre was completely sold out. In 2013, the Queens recorded a Kwaito version of their best known hits, “Kazet”, accompanied by modern stars Zamo and Brickz. The remix formed part of a national voting campaign for a theme song for the
MTN 8 football tournament. Later in the year, longstanding member Mildred Mangxola announced her retirement from the Queens. She was replaced by Amanda Nkosi, a 28-year-old stage performer and vocalist. In 2016, the Queens returned to mainstream success after being featured on hiphop star
Cassper Nyovest's hit "Malome", which was based on the group’s 2006 song "Sela Ndini". In 2017, Nobesuthu Mbadu retired from the Queens, leaving only Hilda Tloubatla as the last remaining active member from the group’s original line-up. Mbadu, who died from kidney failure in 2021, was replaced by another young singer and theatre actress, 27-year-old Nonku Maseko. ==Discography==