Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo (born 1945) is a Zimbabwean musician known as “The Lion of Zimbabwe” and “Mukanya” for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his music, ...

Out of fear that Robert Mugabe’s government will have him arrested, the Zimbabwean singer and guitarist Thomas Mapfumo has lived in exile in Eugene, Ore., since 2000. Mapfumo’s chimurenga music, or ...

More than any other artist except perhaps Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi, Thomas Mapfumo has become Zimbabwe's musical ambassador to the world. That's ironic, because while the people of his country celebrate ...

Thomas Mapfumo is one of Zimbabwe’s most well -known musicians. He’s recognized not only for his music but his political activism. Through his music he’s advocated for equal rights and been an ...

Wambura Mitaru looked out at the crowd — a couple hundred strong but small for College Street Music Hall — and smiled. Half of the audience was still sitting down, a couple tiers from the stage. More ...

Thomas Mapfumo isn’t Nelson Mandela. He didn’t rot in a prison for decades and achieve worldwide reverence as both martyr and father of his country. But Mapfumo is a hero and fierce patriot of his ...

Mapfumo performed a homecoming show in the country last month, after spending over a decade-and-a-half in self-imposed exile. Thomas Mapfumo, 'Lion Of Zimbabwe,' Returns From Exile With Triumphant ...

Thomas Mapfumo is a cultural and political hero in his native Zimbabwe. He created his chimurenga music during the struggle for liberation from the white minority government in the 1970s; in fact, the ...

I must admit that I was more than a little nervous to speak with Thomas Mapfumo as I entered his number into my iPhone last week. There aren’t many living musicians I admire and respect as much as I ...

As Bob Marley is to Jamaicans or Fela Kuti is to Nigerians, Thomas Mapfumo is to Zimbabweans. The bandleader is a superstar in his home country, both for his masterful blending of traditional sounds ...

So, when the so-called "Lion of Zimbabwe" released the album, "Corruption," in 1989, criticizing Robert Mugabe's authoritarian regime, his country's leaders turned against him. "A lot of people who ...