Mbube – The Lion

Available for over a year

‘Mbube’ or the Lion by Solomon Linda’s Original Evening Birds is a track that grew from a half-improvised two minute song recorded in Johannesburg in the 1930s and then, through a series of cultural misappropriations, was rewritten into a worldwide hit – Wimoweh or The Lion Sleeps Tonight. It later became part of Disney’s huge international Lion King phenomenon. But did any of the money make it back to Linda and his family? Produced by Rami Tzabar for BBC World Service. Image: Record label artwork, BBC