HARARE - Mbira diva, Chiwoniso Maraire, gave a highly controversial performance at the Phat Sams Lounge at Westgate Mall last Friday. (Pictured: Mbira diva Chiwoniso Mararire performs at Phat Sam Lounge last Friday)
It was supposed to be her return to the spotlight after a one-year break in the US where she topped world charts. The performance was intended to remind her fellow Zimbabweans that she was the Princess of Mbira, and it turned out to be a disaster. This happened because Chiwoniso was drunk when she took to the stage. “Chiwoniso completely ruined one of the most important performances of her life – her homecoming,” said one of her fans.
Chiwoniso, ex-wife of fellow musician Andy Brown, relocated with her children in August 2007 to Southern California in the US. Her sister and her family are based there. Hours before the show, her anxieties raged over a “custody dispute”, Showbiz heard. She decided it was a good idea to start drinking to calm her nerves. Miffed fans told her to get her act together after she walked off the stage. Many speculated that Chiwoniso was drugged during the performance, or that she was simply too out of it to realize what was happening to her. But her co-performers were all sober, Hope Masike, Thanda Richardson, James Mujuru and Sebede.
The mbira star has done exceptionally well for herself, notwithstanding her appalling performance last Friday. Her latest album, Rebel Woman, was Top 20 on the World Music Charts Europe (WMCE) for three months to January 2009, and it moved to the internationally coveted Number one position briefly.
Post published in: Music