On Tuesday night, South Africa lost one of its favourite sons.

In these divisive times, the outpouring of emotion following the passing of Johnny Clegg shows what kind of man he really was.

Clegg lost his lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer, but the legacy he leaves behind will be remembered for generations to come.

For a superbly written and touching tribute, you can head over here, but let’s deal with some interesting facts that might have slipped under your radar.

TimesLIVE has compiled a list of eight things you may not know, so let’s get the ball rolling with the Michael Jackson tale:

Clegg amassed a loyal legion of fans in France. In fact, they were the first to dub him Le Zoulou Blanc, giving rise to his famous nickname, The White Zulu.

At one point in his career, Clegg’s music was outselling Madonna and Michael Jackson’s in France. Rumour has it the King of Pop was forced to cancel a concert after it was discovered it would clash with one of Clegg’s performances.

Not surprisingly then, Clegg won the Le Victoire French Music Industry Award for having the biggest-selling world music album in France on two separate occasions in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

The concert in question took place in Lyon back in 1988, and it’s reported elsewhere that Jackson’s management was worried about being overshadowed by the hugely popular performer.

Let’s go back to the beginning for our next nugget, with the British-born Clegg having moved to South Africa at the age of seven:

When Clegg was 14 years old, he was sent on a errand to buy bread and milk. Along the way he heard cleaner Charlie Mzila playing his traditional Zulu guitar and was captivated by the sound.

He asked his new acquaintance to teach him to play the instrument in the maskandi style. Mzila agreed and also taught him the art of Zulu stick-fighting, traditional Zulu dance and how to compose maskandi music.

The pair became firm friends, formed a dance team and performed at hostels across the City of Gold.

“He [Mzila] opened a whole new universe for me,” Clegg told The Sunday Times.

Over to France once more for this one:

Given his popularity in France, it’s no wonder the French government declared Clegg a French cultural “knight” in 1991, when they bestowed him with the honour of the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres).

A French knight – pretty impressive.

He was also awarded the Order of Ikhamanga (Silver) by the South African government in 2012, for his “contribution to and achievement in the field of bridging African traditional music with other music forms, promoting racial understanding among racially divided groups in South Africa under difficult apartheid conditions, working for a non-racial society and being an outstanding spokesperson for the release of political prisoners”.

Here’s one to tug on the heartstring a little – Johnny wrote Cruel, Crazy Beautiful World for his son, Jesse, who was just two at the time.

One of the lyrics, “One day when you wake up I will have to say goodbye,” now rings truer than ever.

Yesterday, Jesse shared his own tribute to his father on Instagram:

The text reads as follows:

Thank you for the magical gifts you have given us and for creating a special place in your life for your family. You have inspired me both as a musician and as a man, and given me the tools to live a meaningful life. I will miss you deeply and I struggle to imagine a world without you. But I am comforted to know that your wisdom and compassion lives on in all of us. Hamba kahle dad, be at peace. You have done so much and we honor you. Love you always.

As do we all, Jesse.

The father-son duo collaborated on a track back in 2017, which was then included on Johnny’s final album, King of Time:

Despite all of his international success, Johnny would never win a Grammy:

…Clegg was only ever nominated for one Grammy —  Savuka’s Heat, Dust and Dreams was up for the Best World Music Album award in 1993.

He did, however, win Best World Music Album for Heat, Dust and Dreams at the 1994 Billboard Music Awards, and Best African Group at the 1998 KORA All Africa Music Awards.

Grammy or no Grammy, there are some moments that South Africans will remember forever.

Here’s Zapiro with a touching tribute of his own, via the Daily Maverick:

On that note, we have to show you this video. If this doesn’t give you goosebumps, there’s something wrong inside.

Just look at that entrance from the 2:40 mark:

[source:timeslive]