Velile
Mchunu

Velile Mchunu grew up in a township close to the South African city Durban and later attended the acting school in Johannesburg. There, she made her first stage experience in the musical »Lion King«.

After having performed in the musical »Sarafina« in Vienna 1989, she also played a role in its movie adaption alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Miriam Makeba three years later. Further projects included the musicals »Umoja«, »Drums and Dreams« and »Matamata«.
1999, Mchunu appeared on stage with Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder for Nelson Mandela’s birthday concert.

2002 – 2010 she sang and performed the leading part shaman Rafiki in Hamburg’s production of »Lion King« for eight years.

Thereafter, Velile Mchunu was introduced to an even larger audience by her hit song »Helele«, the theme song of German and Swiss TV for the soccer championships in South Africa in 2010. The song became a chart success and reached platinum status.

Subsequently, she released her first solo album, »Tales from Africa«, which reached number 3 in the German charts. Her second album, »Lion Queen«, was published in 2011 and is sung in her first language Zulu.