Reggae musician Lucky Dube was shot dead in a hijacking on Thursday 10/18/07 in Rosettenville, Johannesburg police said.
Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said the incident took place at around 8.20pm when Dube was driving a blue Polo in the Johannesburg suburb.
She said Dube was dropping off his son in the area when he was attacked.
"His son was already out of the car. When he saw what was happening, he ran to ask for help."
The hijackers are still at large with investigations on going.
The boy was too traumatised to provide police with any information, Engelbrecht said.
Lucky Dube has been hailed as 'The shining star of African reggae (afropop.com) and 'South Africa's biggest selling contemporary artist' (Mail & Guardian). However, he isn't merely this, he's a modern day hero with a message that has touched millions of people's hearts around the world. With an incredible 21 albums under his musical belt, he has proved himself one of not only South Africa's, but also the world's greatest reggae superstars. A man with superb musical taste and genuis, an artist with a message, with a reason and a rhyme behind everything he does.
As one can judge by listening to his music, he has a message on every album. His songs are based on three main things - political issues, social issues and personal issues - things that play an important role in everyone's lives. When asked what inspires him (Lucky), he humbly notes - 'People! Looking at people, watching people's movements, the things they do. My songs are based on real life situations and experiences.'
From the release of his first reggae album in 1984, to his present superstar status today, Lucky has maintained the humble nature that brings him closer to the people that so inspire his music. He has toured the world more times over than anyone could dream of and shared stages with names such as Maxi Priest, Sinead O-Connor, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Seal, Ziggy Marley, Celine Dion, Sting and many, many others. He has raked in over 20 local and international awards for his music and videos, yet as a person he is unaffected by his success. Still living in the country that gave him birth, he records with his original sound engineer and belongs to the same record comany. A true gentleman, Lucky's down-to-earth nature is one of his finest qualities.
His music is riddled with the desire to make the world a better place.
Massive hits such as Taxman, Prisoner, The Way It Is, Victims, Trinity and many others have catapulted him into the homes and hearts of people all over the world. He sees through the ridiculous, the injustices, the everyday problems we all have to deal with as human beings, and slices through to the heart of it. His incredible repertoire is a cornucopia of mixed emotions, questioning attitudes and a simple love of a good melody and a good vibe.
The 13th reggae album that Lucky has been working on, from the 17th October has now been completed. There was a lot of celebration in the studio when the last fader was pulled. We had the chance to listen to the album for the first time, WOW!!! The sound, the message, the arrangements, unbelieveable, now, we know why it took as long as it did to get it done, it is worth the wait. The CEO of Gallo Music came out of the listening session, visibly excited about everything he had heard. Lucky's former producer, Richard Siluma, also dropped in for the session, he was very proud of lucky.
The Album (In very short):
We have used some of the very talented session musicians in South Africa. Some, we have worked with on other albums; some were those we have always wanted to work with. I was particularly impressed by the different styles that Lucky applied to this magnificent piece of work. On one song, called "Celebrate life", Lucky did a little rap thing, which has become known in South African townships as Kwaito, this combination was the favourite of many at the listening session. Also another favourite was a slow ballady, rock song called "Changing world" amazing!! Very different from anything Lucky has done in the past. There are a lot of African sounds on this album, big drums, lots of voices, which makes it unmistakably Lucky's biggest production to date. The track "Respect" gives us a good idea of what African sounds can do to reggae music.
The album will be released sometime in March 2006.
We are currently busy working on our 2006 touring schedule, so far, it has been decided that most of the touring will be done in Africa, this coming year. Some of the countries that will be visited are Ghana, Maputo (in January), Lesotho, Swaziland, Gambia, Zambia, Namibia and many others. The dates will be posted to the site in due course.
To all Lucky Dube music "lovers", God bless and protect you all.
