Legendary South African musician and anthropologist Johnny Clegg has passed on at age 66, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015.
In 2017 the singer spoke about his fate, saying “I’m dealing with another parallel world that I work in with my diagnosis. Pancreatic cancer is lethal. There’s no way out of it.”
As tributes pour in for the iconic singer, the family has asked for privacy in their time of mourning.
"His passing has left us numb and we request that the family's privacy be respected during this trying time. The family will be holding a private funeral service and we ask you to please respect the families wishes. There will be a service for the public to pay their respects and the details thereof will be announced in due course," Quinn said.
Clegg was awarded by a number of local and international bodies for his contribution to music and society, notably by the French Government in 1991 with a Knight of Arts and Letters, and in 2015 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
In 2012 he received the Order of Ikhamanga from the South African government and was awarded a number of honorary doctorates.
May his music live on and his soul rest in peace.