In 1932 Solomon Linda wrote a song he called “Mbube.” He and the Evening Birds recorded it as a 78 in 1939 and by 1949, some 100,000 copies had been sold. If you were around in the ’60s, you’d have known it as “Wimoweh” (from the Zulu “uyiMbube”). Then it showed up as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in Walt Disney’s “The Lion King.” The song has earned an estimated US$38.5 million in royalties since it was written, according to South Africa’s The Advertiser.
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In the Ugly Music Business, Giants Rule
Posted by: Jon Newton February 22, 2006 07:00 AMIn 1932 Solomon Linda wrote a song he called “Mbube.” He and the Evening Birds recorded it as a 78 in 1939 and by 1949, some 100,000 copies had been sold. If you were around in the ’60s, you’d have known it as “Wimoweh” (from the Zulu “uyiMbube”). Then it showed up as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in Walt Disney’s “The Lion King.” The song has earned an estimated US$38.5 million in royalties since it was written, according to South Africa’s The Advertiser.