This Day in History

Paul Simon visits South Africa

On this day in 1996, Paul Simon performs in a historic concert in Johannesbug, South Africa, being the first international star to perform there since the lifting of the dedades-long UN boycott.
In 1985, the singer-songwriter had made a controversial visit to South Africa, violating a United Nations cultural boycott put in place during the late-60s in response to the racist policies of South Africa under apartheid.
His nine-day visit helped increase worldwide awareness of black South Africa’s rich musical traditions, unknown even to the white minority in South Africa due to the apartheid.
Attracted by the music of African black townships in South Africa – mbaqanga and mbube – Paul Simon went on to make recordings with black vocal groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, for his successful album Graceland. The landmark album went on to sell millions of copies, win multiple Grammys and earn a place in the US National Recording Registry in 2006.
Seven years later, with the UN boycott lifted and the full support of the ANC and its freed leader Nelson Mandela, he returned to South Africa to play the historic concert in Johannesburg that gathered 40,000 fans.
During the apartheid, while UN restrictions on trade and military support were only selectively respected by some of the most powerful nations of the world, the cultural boycott against South Africa held firm, and the country was barred from participating in international sporting events and cultural affairs for decades, since its ‘coloured’ population had already been barred from such events by the S. Africa ruling party.