Hugh Masekela is a South African trumpet player.

Hugh was born in 1939 in Witbank, a small town outside Johannesburg. He developed a love for music at a young age and picked up the trumpet at age fourteen.

In 1961, he left South Africa to study in London, and then in New York at the Manhattan School of Music.

Hugh soared to success in America! He became one of the first African artist’s to have number a one single: Grazin’ in the Grass in 1968.

His 1987 hit song Bring Him Back Home became an anthem for Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. After living abroad for 30 years, Hugh returned home at the end of Apartheid in 1990.

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Text by Kathryn Berk.