The original recording of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, composed 62 years ago by a South African who died in poverty without royalties, is to be released again to benefit his family.
Versions of the song by Solomon Linda will be recorded by top South African groups Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Elite Swingsters and released as a compact disc on August 6.
Royalties will go to Linda's three daughters and their families in Soweto, near Johannesburg.
The value of all the songwriter's royalties and associated revenues generated by the song is estimated at about $US15 ($36.33) million.
But Linda died penniless at the age of 53, more than 20 years after he and his band, the Original Evening Birds, recorded the song Mbube for the first time.
- NZPA
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