Lucky Dube Shot Dead

News reports say Lucky Dube was shot in front of his son in a hijacking in Johannesburg. Dube, who was dropping off his teenage son and daughter, was driving a grey Chrysler. Police say his son was already out of the car, and ran to get help for his dying dad.

But it was too late.

Lucky Philip Dube was born on the 3rd of August 1964. According to luckydubemusic.com, it was a few failed pregnancy attempts by his mother that led Sarah to consider her son a blessing, which is why she named him 'Lucky'. Dube began his musical career at the age of 18 as part of a Mbaqanga group called The Love Brothers.

It’s not clear when exactly Dube fell in love with reggae, but after a few years with The Love Brothers, Dube began to sometimes perform some reggae influenced tracks, and the crowd went wild. Dube and his long-time engineer Dave Segal decided it was time to record a full-length reggae album. And as they say, the rest is history. Dube would become SA’s biggest star, selling more records than he could have ever imagined, gaining international recognition and winning several awards. He was huge star all over Africa – in Madagascar his aeroplane was met by massive crowds, and his songs are covered alongside Bob Marley’s in nightclubs from Antananarivo to Maputo.

His career spanned 25 years, with his last album Respect released in 2006.

What a loss to the South African music Industry. Hamba kahle Bra Lucky.

We urge you to post your comments and memories of South Africa’s most famous reggae artist.

Read the news reports:
-Mail&Guardian
-News24

More on Lucky Dube on his Official Website