By 4 vocalist dies
Chippa Legodimo | Wednesday December 3, 2014 11:09
The 41-year-old vocalist –cum- dancer died on Monday morning following a short illness. In May 2009 the group lost its founder/producer Penwell Kunene, who succumbed to an undisclosed illness at Baragwaneth hospital in Soweto. Kunene’s death had followed that of another founding member, Linda Magugu, who died in 2005.
The death of Kunene who was also a lead vocalist for Matshikos and a drummer for Splash, left a huge void in By 4. The group was out of the limelight for a long time, until last year when they came back together to complete the album, which had been half completed by Kunene. The album, called, The Return, was released under the production of Kunene’s young brother Bafana Kunene.
According to the group’s publicist Oska Tyumre, Madikane had just finished recording By 4’s ninth album, called Azishe, which is due for release next year January. “She has been part of By4 since it was formed as back up singer on stage and studio. The first time she appeared as member was in the 2010 album Vuma. She was a humble, fun loving person and She loved people,” Tyumre told Showbiz.
The group was formed in 1998 and debuted with Nontembiso. They went on to release other successful albums like Usizi, Molweni, Biza and Vuma with the hit song, Ko gae go kgakala.