CELEBRATED legendary afro-soul musician Ringo Madlingozi (53), who is known and mostly loved for his charming melodic voice and his heartfelt lyrics, recently had an unpleasant experience. He was left terrified after suffering a health scare while on stage during a performance at the Ridge Casino in Mpumalanga recently. The veteran singer almost cut his performance short after being attacked by a headache that temporarily blinded him and left him stuttering.
THE UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE
The award-winning muso, who is popularly known for his hit songs such as Sondela and Ndiyagodola, shared the experience with his Instagram followers with a picture that was taken by an Instagram user. Speaking to Move!, Ringo says, “After the third song while preparing for my fourth one, a blinding headache from my right side started pounding and choking my voice. I wish nothing like this for any artist.” He says the pain was too much and unbearable. “My head was pounding and blinding my way. I never had so much pain while performing. My head never pounded so much before,” says the musician. “I was so scared for my life. I must confess, during that time I was thinking about the recent passing away of fellow musicians, I thought they were calling me or maybe it was my time,” says Ringo.
GOING THROUGH THE ORDEAL
The musician says even though he was going through such an ordeal, he had no choice but to continue with his performance. “The show had to go on. I respect my fans even though I was not feeling well. I still had to deliver,” he says. However, Ringo says he has recovered from the ordeal and he reassures his fans that they will never see him perform in that bad state again. “I thought it was just a headache but the people I was with told me to have it checked out by a doctor. I still don’t know what was happening or what may have caused it, but now I’m fine,” he says. “It’s like nothing happened and I’m back to my old self. On Valentine’s Day I was performing at an event in Bloemfontein and everything went well. I’m still here and I’m not going anywhere, not anytime soon,” he laughs.
DOING MORE MUSIC
With 14 albums under his name, Ringo says he still wants to deliver good music to his fans. “I started singing professionally in 1986 and I still want to make more music for my fans,” says the father of seven. “My last three albums didn’t do well but I’m now working on my 15th album that I want to release before August. I hope music fans will love and enjoy it too.”
