When I was a student in London in the 1980s, I became good friends with Keith Drummond of a band called Black Slate.
The band had made a number one hit in the British music charts with the song “Amigo”, which had sold close to a million copies worldwide a few years before. In my mind, Keith was now a millionaire, but I was astonished when Keith came to me asking for £1.
I told him that I am the one who should be asking him for some money. I asked myself what had happened to his fortune but could not reach a convincing conclusion.
Afterwards I spoke to Anthony Brightley, the keyboards player in the band, who is now a successful businessman in England and Jamaica. He told me that with the success of “Amigo” Keith had become so big-headed such that he spent most of his money on drugs and prostitutes and failed to invest any.
I often wonder what goes wrong after people from humble beginnings make it to the top. They all seem to forget where they come from. They become arrogant, vain and uncontrollable.
If that is the meaning of being a celebrity, I would rather not be one. The dignity of the individual demands that he be not reduced to mere vassalage by the largesse of others.
Take, for instance, our own music stars like The Bhundu Boys, who came from humble beginnings with Biggie Tembo growing up in a poverty-stricken township of Chinhoyi. When he eventually went to Harare and joined Rise Kagona’s band, his fortunes changed.
The Bhundu Boys had four number one singles in three years in Zimbabwe. The odd circumstance which brought the band international fame began in the mid-1980s through an EP that captivated veteran BBC DJs, John Peel and Andy Kershaw.
It was when they went to the UK in 1986 that things began to happen beyond their wildest dreams.
Gordon Muir, who had taken over as Bhundu Boys’ manager, provided cash and soon got the band bookings on the lucrative student circuit, from which, with the support of radio DJs such as Peel, Kershaw and Charlie Gillett, they built a national following.
At the height of their fame in the mid-1980s, the Bhundu Boys were signed to Warner (WEA), who gave them £120 000 (about US$200 000) in advance royalties. They toured North America, Australia and Hong Kong and sold nearly a million records worldwide. They were chauffeured to venues from luxury hotels. They owned a large house in London.
In 1987, the Bhundu Boys played at Wembley Stadium as a support act for Madonna in the United Kingdom.
John Peel (former BBC Radio DJ) famously described the Bhundu Boys as producing “the most naturally flowing music he’d ever heard in his life”.
In England, Biggie Tembo won the Sony Award for a superb Radio 1 documentary that he co-presented with Kershaw, hosted a special for Channel 4 TV, and appeared on the children’s television programme, Blue Peter.
The Bhundu Boys were lauded by Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits band, as well as Madonna, who personally requested that the band support her for the three nights she played, to a total of 240 000 people at Wembley Stadium in 1987.
Elvis Costello, another admirer, briefly acted as their producer when they recorded an album with Don Williams, the country and western singer. They won awards, which included the hardest working band in Britain in 1988. At Brixton Academy, the Bhundu Boys – who were joined by Mark Knopfler on stage – headlined a show which also featured Hugh Masekela as their supporting act.
They had got so big that it was difficult to even arrange an interview with them as protective bouncers surrounded them most of the time. But those who are created by publicity will eventually be destroyed by it.
Psychologically, The Bhundu Boys, Biggie Tembo in particular, could not cope with their luxurious life and fame to the extent that they ended up destroying themselves. Tembo committed suicide in the end.
Biggie is not alone in this unorthodox conduct. Years back in the USA, a similar story took place when Elvis Presley, who seemed to have achieved everything in life also took his own life by drugging himself to death, at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.
His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humour endeared him to millions of fans, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life.
Fame, like a drunkard, consumed the house of his soul. In his mind, he had become the greatest being that has ever lived on earth because his fans told him so. Hence he was not satisfied with his achievements and wanted more.
He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he sold over one billion records, which made him a billionaire.
His American sales earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (three wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award which he received at age 36.
He was also named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. With all these achievements, one would ask what went wrong. Why did he start to hide from the people that created him and ended up killing himself?
Yet another star, Marvin Gaye, also struggled with his success. While deemed a “smooth song-and-dance ladies’ man”, with hits such as “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You”, “Let’s get it On” and “Sexual Healing” which made him millions, Marvin had the whole world in his hands.
“Sexual Healing” was released to receptive audiences globally, reaching number one in Canada, New Zealand and the US R&B singles chart, while becoming a top 10 US pop hit and hitting the top 10 in three other selected countries including the UK.
The single became the fastest-selling and fastest-rising single in five years on the R&B chart staying at number one for a record-setting ten weeks
“Sexual Healing” won Gaye his first two Grammy Awards including Best Male Vocal Performance, in February 1983, and also won Gaye an American Music Award for Favourite Soul Single. The People magazine called it “America’s hottest musical turn-on”.
Soon, Marvin got married to Anna Gordy, Berry (Mow Town Records) Gordy’s sister. With all these achievements, one would think Marvin had made it.
Marvin Gaye became a multi-millionaire, but within a short space of time, he had taken to drugs and alcoholism. He then embarked on a US tour to support his album. The tour, ending in August 1983, was plagued by Gaye’s drug addictions and depression.
When the tour ended, he attempted to isolate himself by moving into his parents’ house in Los Angeles. As documented in the PBS “American Masters” 2008 exposé, several witnesses claimed Marvin’s mental and physical condition spiralled out of control.
Groupies and drug dealers hounded Marvin night and day. He threatened to commit suicide several times after bitter arguments with his father.
On April 1, 1984, Gaye’s father fatally shot him after an argument that started after his parents squabbled over misplaced business documents. Gaye attempted to intervene, and was killed by his father using a gun that Marvin Jnr had given him four months earlier. Marvin Gaye would have turned 45 the next day.
A similar fate, without me giving the details, befell Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009. Again, you may ask: What went wrong with this famous celebrity? You might ask again, is being a celebrity worth it?
l Professor Fred Zindi is at the University of Zimbabwe. He is also a musician and an author of several books on music. He can be contacted via e-mail on [email protected]

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