Artists from South Africa

185 published artists from South Africa, led by Tyla, Seether and WizTheMc. The list below shows the 120 most famous.

At a glance

185 published artists from South Africa; 515 studio albums have verified cover art.

Published artists2 tier 1 · 4 tier 2 · 179 tier 3: 185
Release groups: 1,426
Studio albums: 643
Albums with cover artverified Cover Art Archive: 515
Timeline events: 1,001
Monthly listenerssum across artists: 60.6M
Average career spanfirst to last dated release: 22.2 years
Full biographies: 114
Biography words: 171,794

When they started

Debut decade from each artist's earliest dated release. Most debuts fell in the 2000s (30 artists).

Artists by debut decade
Decade	Artists
1960s	7
1970s	15
1980s	10
1990s	20
2000s	30
2010s	15
2020s	4

84 artists have no dated release or formation year and are not plotted.

Genres in South Africa

Top 8 genres by artist count. jazz is the most common, with 26 artists.

Covers from South Africa

515 studio albums have verified cover art. The 12 shown come from the most famous artists.

A*POP
Tyla · 2026
TYLA
Tyla · 2024
The Surface Seems So Far
Seether · 2024
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Seether · 2020
Poison the Parish
Seether · 2017
Isolate and Medicate
Seether · 2014
Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray
Seether · 2011
Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces
Seether · 2007
Karma and Effect
Seether · 2005
Disclaimer II
Seether · 2004
Disclaimer
Seether · 2002
Fragile
Seether · 2000

Leaders

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has the most release groups (129); Hugh Masekela the longest career (62 years); Ladysmith Black Mambazo the most awards (49).

Most prolific

Most prolific, by number of release groups
Artist	release groups
Ladysmith Black Mambazo	129
Abdullah Ibrahim	102
Seether	81
Hugh Masekela	66
Brenda Fassie	59

Longest careers

first to last dated release

Longest careers, by number of years
Artist	years
Hugh Masekela	62
Abdullah Ibrahim	59
Mahotella Queens	59
Ladysmith Black Mambazo	50
Louis Moholo	49

Most decorated

Most decorated, by number of awards
Artist	awards
Ladysmith Black Mambazo	49
Tyla	14
Hugh Masekela	4
Abdullah Ibrahim	4
Mimi Coertse	3

Other countries with jazz artists, and the browse view for South Africa.

jazz in other countries

United States 456
Canada 67
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 50
France 39
Japan 32
Brazil 29
Sweden 28
Norway 23

Browse

Most famous artists from South Africa

Tyla

South Africa · Person · born 2002

pop music, contemporary R&B, new jack swing, Amapiano

25M listeners · 49 wikis

Seether

South Africa · Group · 1999–present

hard rock, alternative metal, post-grunge

10M listeners · 38 wikis

WizTheMc

South Africa · Person · born 1999

hip-hop, pop rap, Afroswing

15.5M listeners · 6 wikis

Gregory Alan Isakov

South Africa · Person · born 1979

traditional folk music

10.1M listeners · 12 wikis

Sasha Pieterse

South Africa · Person · born 1996

country music, folk music, Southern rock

49 wikis

Die Antwoord

South Africa · Group · 2008–present

electronic dance music, alternative hip-hop

48 wikis

Hugh Masekela

South Africa · Person · born 1939

jazz, music of Africa, cape jazz

45 wikis

Brenda Fassie

South Africa · Person · born 1964

African popular music

41 wikis

Dave Matthews

South Africa · Person · born 1967

rock music

31 wikis

Lucky Dube

South Africa · Person · born 1964

reggae

38 wikis

Trevor Rabin

South Africa · Person · born 1954

rock music, pop music, hard rock, progressive rock, jazz fusion

29 wikis

Abdullah Ibrahim

South Africa · Person · born 1934

jazz, folk music, post-bop, bebop, Afro-jazz, cape jazz

30 wikis

Artists from South Africa

At a glance

When they started

Genres in South Africa

Covers from South Africa

Leaders

Most prolific

Longest careers

Most decorated

Related

jazz in other countries

Browse

Most famous artists from South Africa

Tyla

Seether

WizTheMc

Gregory Alan Isakov

Sasha Pieterse

Die Antwoord

Hugh Masekela

Brenda Fassie

Dave Matthews

Lucky Dube

Trevor Rabin

Abdullah Ibrahim

More from South Africa

Yolandi Visser

Enoch Mankayi Sontonga

Zahara

Yvonne Chaka Chaka

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Simphiwe Dana

Trevor Jones

Shaun Morgan

Theuns Jordaan

AKA

Solomon Linda

Leon Schuster

Bok van Blerk

Mimi Coertse

Watkin Tudor Jones

Sho Madjozi

Kongos

Thandiswa Mazwai

Lira

Karen Zoid

Steve Hofmeyr

Orville Peck

Cassper Nyovest

Amanda Black

Zola

Dolly Rathebe

Blondie Chaplin

Rebecca Malope

Busiswa

Sibongile Khumalo

Vusi Mahlasela

Bongi Makeba

Busi Mhlongo

Ray Phiri

Kevin Volans

Steve Kekana

DJ Zinhle

Mahotella Queens

Louise Carver

Locnville

Moonchild Sanelly

Joseph Shabalala

Tananas

Jean Grae

Nadia Nakai

Shebeshxt

Koos du Plessis

Jabu Khanyile

Kamo Mphela

Chris McGregor

Lebo M.

Ike Moriz

Laurika Rauch

Judith Sephuma