Mike Nyoni

12+ albums

zamrockzambia

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about

Mike Nyoni (1947-1991) was a Zambian singer and guitarist who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. He was known for bringing the funk style into Zamrock and for his Kalidula singles in the 1980s. Nyoni was born in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1947 to a Zambian migrant family. He returned to Zambia during the turmoil of the Rhodesian War in the early 1970's. There he got into the burgeoning Zamrock music scene, eventually joining the Zamrock band Born Free as the lead singer and as a songwriter. He stayed with Born Free though their 1975 soul/funk album, Mukaziwa Chingoni, and a single or two before going solo. He released two albums as a solo artist, both with with a mix of soul/funk Zamrock melodies. With the death of Zamrock, by 1980, Nyoni, like most of Zambia's musical artists, embraced other forms of Zambian popular music of the era, becoming a Kalindula artist. With the hard economic times of the 1980's, he was unable to be a full time musician, but still produced numerous singles throughout the 80's. He died of malaria in 1991. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.