Lebohang Morake (born 11 July 1964), known as Lebo M, is a South African producer and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, known for his songwriting and vocal work on the soundtracks to films such as ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

, The Power of One'' and ''

Outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

'' and numerous stage productions. He was recommended to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

, the composer of both adaptations of ''The Lion King'', and formed and conducted the African choir that sang for the films.

Early life

Lebohang Morake was born on 11 July 1964 in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa. With no formal training in music, he left school at the age of nine to perform music in night clubs. Morake recorded his first single, "Celebration", when he was 13 years old, receiving only $20 for recording the record. When he was 13 years old, Morake became the youngest performer to sing at the nightclub Club Pelican, when he filled in for a

backup singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

who could not attend.

Career

Early career

In 1979, Morake sought to broaden his horizons, so he left by bus for

Maseru Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. T ...

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

, after hearing that a new club was going to be opening there. In Maseru, due to the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

system, he was under exile. At 15, he was working as a singer in the Victoria Hotel in Lesotho when Lesotho's Ambassador to the United States Tim Thahane noticed him and appreciated his musical abilities. Thahane helped Morake apply to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, coordinating with the TransAfrica organization to send the singer to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Morake lived at first in New York, again playing in restaurants and bars, and was supported by Black churches to attend music school. Morake moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

when he was 18 to pursue a music career.

Start in Hollywood

, he struggled to make ends meet, working odd jobs to survive while studying at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

. He performed sometimes at Memory Lane, a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

owned by

Marla Gibbs Marla Gibbs (born Margaret Theresa Bradley; June 14, 1931) is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer, and television producer whose career spans seven decades. She is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, on th ...

. Morake was asked to help find a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

for the

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

, so that they could perform music from 1987's '' Cry Freedom'', a film about South Africa that was nominated for multiple

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

, including one for Best Original Song. He made further strides in his music career when by chance, he ran into childhood friend Solly Letwaba, who was the bassist for Johnny Clegg. Letwaba introduced Morake to Clegg's producer, Hilton Rosenthal, who employed Morake as an

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

and gofer for his production studio. Rosenthal was the music supervisor on the film '' The Power of One'', and through him, Morake met the film's composer,

. After being asked about some ideas for the film's soundtrack, Morake ended up co-writing and co-producing the music for ''The Power of One'' with Zimmer, helping to arrange the choruses. Morake used his knowledge of African rhythms to compose the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

s to other films, such as '' Congo'' (1995), ''

'' (1995), and '' Born to be Wild'' (1995)''.'' He decided to return to South Africa in the early 1990s, after the end of apartheid.

The Lion King

Morake wrote and sang the opening Zulu chant at the beginning of Disney's ''

'', for which he was sought by Zimmer. He also contributed to the sequel to the film's soundtrack, '' Rhythm of the Pride Lands'', and the film's direct-to-video sequel '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride''. The duo composed so much music that Disney approved an additional soundtrack album, '' Rhythm of the Pride Lands'', containing extra compositions. ''The Lion King's'' original soundtrack, with the compositions that had made the cut for the theatrical release, earned the two composers a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

, and Zimmer won an

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...

. Morake also helped score ''

's'' stage musical, creating new music and adding pieces from ''Rhythm of the Pride Lands''. The musical was nominated for Best Original Score at the 52nd Tony Awards in 1998. He founded the Lebo M Foundation and Till Dawn Entertainment. On 23 July 2019, Morake performed"' Circle of Life" and " He Lives in You" at the opening ceremony of the 24th World Scout Jamboree. In April 2024, it was announced that Lebo M would join the music team for '' Mufasa: The Lion King'', providing additional music alongside the film’s songwriter,

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', and the soundtracks for the animated films '' Moana' ...

Personal life

Morake was

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

to Viveca Gipson for 5 years. He

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d her and married Nandi Ndlovu and they were together for 11 years. He then divorced Ndlovu and married Angela Ngani-Casara for five years, from 2008 to 2013. Morake became engaged to Zoe Mthiyane but their relationship ended in 2016. He remarried his third wife, Angela, but they divorced again in 2017. He lives with his family in

and Los Angeles. His daughter Refi is also a singer who often performs by his side. In April 2021, Morake got engaged to partner Pretty Samuels, in 2023 he had presumably filed for divorce.

Filmography

Lebo Morake has composed, arranged, performed and produced music for the following films: * ''

'' (

) * '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' * '' The Lion King 1½'' * '' The Lion King (musical)'' – singer at One by One * '' The Power of One'' * ''

Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

'' * '' Disney's Animal Kingdom: The First Adventure'' * '' Tears of the Sun'' * '' Back on the Block'' * '' Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' * ''Listen Up: The Life of

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

'' * ''

'' * '' Congo'' * '' Born to Be Wild'' * '' Long Night's Journey Into Day'' * ''

'' (2019 remake) * '' The Woman King'' (2022) * '' Mufasa: The Lion King'' (2024)

Discography

* ''How Wonderful We Are'' (1995) * '' Rhythm of the Pride Lands'' (1995) * ''Lebo M: Deeper Meaning'' (1997) * '' Return to Pride Rock'' (1998) * ''Lebo M Presents: Open Summahhh Open Happiness'' (2009)

References

External links

Official site

Portrait of Lebo M.
Mail & Guardian Online 12 Jul 2019

at

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from the Walt Disney Company's Walt Disney Studios (division), motion picture studios, television shows, Disney Experiences, them ...

* * * * https://zalebs.com/whats-hot/lion-kings-lebo-m-gets-married-sixth-time {{DEFAULTSORT:M, Lebo 1964 births Grammy Award winners Living people Musicians from Soweto South African composers South African male composers 20th-century South African male singers 21st-century South African male singers English-language singers from South Africa