As today marks five years since the death of music guru Dr Oliver Mtukudz, his daughter Selmor shared an interesting glimpse into her parents’ history, shedding light on the lobola her father paid for her mother the first wife, Melody Murape.
Selmor paid tribute to her late father, expressing how much she misses him and wishing him peace.
“Pane roora list rakatenderera recently which I thought was very reasonable, big up to those parents! Hameno iri ramdara wangu when he married my mom in 1978 kuti munorionawo sei? It’s 5 years today since you went to be with the Lord, we miss you so much. Rest in peace dad,” Selmor captioned the picture of the lobola list.
Back in 1979, Oliver Mtukudzi and Melody Murape made headlines with their wedding reception at Gwanzura Stadium in Highfields. While the details of their wedding are well-known, Selmor went a step further by revealing the original lobola list her father paid in 1978.
Mtukudzi’s music reflected the daily life and struggles of his homeland by blending together a number of african music traditions including mbira, mbaqanga, jit, and the traditional drumming styles of the Korekore to create a distinctive style that his fans called Tuku music.
Mtukudzi was also an astonishingly prolific recording artist, releasing 67 albums during his four-decade career.
As an inventive guitarist and passionate singer, he established himself in the late ‘70s, his popularity soared after Zimbabwe won its independence in 1980 and in the years that followed, and he released a string of successful albums and branched out into acting as well, starring in his country’s first two nationally made films, Jit (1990) and Neria (1992).
