South African singer and songwriter Johnny Clegg, one of the few white artists to openly confront the apartheid government, died on Tuesday aged 66.
He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015.
A Grammy nominee and Billboard music award winner, British-born Clegg was known by many South Africans as “umlungu omnyama,” or “the black white person.”
He spoke fluent Zulu and mixed it into his traditional folk music, or ‘mbaqanga.’
President Cyril Ramaphosa lead the government’s tributes.
“A beloved, inspirational and heroic voice has fallen silent and leaves all of us bereft of an exceptional compatriot and icon of social cohesion and non-racialism,” Ramaphosa said.
“His music had the ability to unite people across the races and bring them together as a community. We send our sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans,” a government statement said.
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