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When Linda died in 1962, he had less than $25 to his name, and his still-impoverished family, which lives in Soweto, is suing Walt Disney Corp. The song has been adapted and recorded by more than 150 artists, translated into several languages and featured in many stage musicals and films, most notably Disney’s 1994 blockbuster pic “The Lion King.”
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Once the deal is signed, Linda’s heirs will receive the full amount, estimated at 20,000 rands ($3,125) a year. But these payments did not amount to the full composer’s royalties due, Dean said. Since then, his family has been receiving royalty payments of 12.5% of “Wimoweh’s” overall earnings. In 1971, the company acknowledged the song was based on Linda’s original work. Dean said TRO thought the tune was a traditional Zulu folk song, its author unknown, so it paid royalties to the Weavers. Howie Richmond, TRO’s founder, signed folk group the Weavers to record a version of “Wimoweh” around 1951 that rose to No.
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Folk singer Pete Seeger came across the song in 1949, transcribed it and called it “Wimoweh,” from the Zulu “uyiMbube,” which means “he is a lion.” In 2004, the descendants of Solomon Popoli Linda filled a lawsuit against the Walt Disney company, seeking $1.6 million in royalties for its use of his song “Mbube” in the production of “The Lion King.” The settlement involved an unknown payment of back royalties to the family and the right to participate in the royalties globally and in the future.Linda was a poor Zulu migrant worker and local black township musician who composed the song in Johannesburg in 1939 and recorded it with a group called the Evening Birds. He was 53 and left behind a wife, Regina Linda, and four children. Three years later, Solomon Popoli Linda died a pauper with $25 in his bank account on October 8,1962 in Soweto, South Africa. In 1959, while performing on stage with The Evening Birds, Linda collapsed and was later diagnosed with kidney disease. 3 on the Billboard Hit 100 Chart and sold more than one million copies. In 1972, Robert John released his version of the song which peaked at no. Weiss called his version, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Sung by the Tokens, it topped the 1961 Billboard pop chart and earned more than $15 million in royalties from sales and film licensing. In 1961, Composer and pianist George David Weiss rearranged “Wimoweh,” adding the piano, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass and introducing all-English lyrics. The record was a modest success selling fewer than 20,000 units. Linda’s words, “Uyimbube, Uyimbube,” were changed to “Wimoweh,” in the recording the Weavers produced. The song was renamed “Wimoweh” and recorded by numerous individual singers and groups, including Pete Seeger and The Weavers in 1948. In 1948 Linda sold the worldwide rights to “Mbube” to a South African record label for $2. “Mbube” drew the interest not only of indigenous Africans but also white missionaries, tourists, and ethnomusicologists whose replaying of it made the song an internationally recognized classic. Copies were shipped to England as 10″ 78 rpm discs and became a word-of-mouth hit the song was officially released in 1939 and quickly became a hit in Southern African cities, selling more than 100,000 copies. During their second session, “Mbube” was recorded in four takes. Discovered by a talent scout, they recorded several songs in Eric Gallo’s Johannesburg recording studio. In 1938, Linda introduced Mbube to a new group, the Original Evening Birds, teaching them harmony and techniques of improvisational skills. Linda used this style of “call and response” singing as a foundational practice for much of his work. He would include a descant to counter the melody, which is not unusual in Zulu music and very engaging. In addition, arranged compositions in four-part harmony. In 1930, Linda left KwaZulu-Natal for Johannesburg, where he led an Acapella ensemble and performed in local beer halls. While performing with a choir, The Evening Birds, he earned a living as a migrant worker. In 1920, Linda, who could barely read English, composed and wrote the song “Mbube,” which means lion in Zulu. The Singers performed at Gordon Memorial School in the South African village of Msinga in 1898. While he was musically oriented, Linda was also was inspired to perform after hearing a recording of the Hampton Institute graduate, Orpheus McAdoo, who was then director of the Virginia Concert Company and Jubilee Singers.
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Composer, lyricist, choreographer and Countertenor Solomon Popoli Linda, a Zulu, was born in 1909 in Pomeroy, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
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