Queen’s Classic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ finds a new voice in Zulu
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The Ndlovu Youth Choir, which began in South Africa’s rural Limpopo province and rose to international fame on America’s Got Talent in 2019, has released a bold new project: a Zulu-language version of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
It’s the first time Queen has ever authorized a translation of the iconic rock anthem. The choir’s artistic director, Ralf Schmitt, says the band’s surviving members and the Mercury Phoenix Trust gave their blessing.
“We realized that we’d be the first translation that’s been commercially released,” Schmitt said. “So, we’re very honored to have got the permission, and we hope that we’ve done the piece justice.”
The release comes during the 50th anniversary of Bohemian Rhapsody. Schmitt says the idea of creating an African version emerged while the group was working in Tanzania. “Of course, Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar,” he said.
Mercury’s family later moved to Britain, and he never returned to the African island of his birth.
For choir member Sandile Majola, who helped painstakingly translate the song into Zulu, the project carried deep meaning. “We approached the translation with the utmost care, keeping it as true to the original as possible,” he said. “Bringing this song to life in my own language gave it a whole new meaning for me.”
For some members, the music was a complete discovery. Lead singer Lungelo Masango recalls, “I had never heard of the song or the band.” The real challenge, she added, was adapting the lyrics into Zulu: “Zulu words are very long … you have to find the right words because the message still has to be the same.”
The translation process took years, and some surreal lyrics — like the famous “Galileo, Galileo!” — remain in English. The new version weaves in African musical traditions, from township styles such as isicathamiya to the Congolese swing of kwassa kwassa. The expanded call-and-response sections, Schmitt notes, are rooted in African performance styles.
The music video, now on YouTube, features the choir in vibrant traditional dress, celebrating a uniquely African take on one of rock’s most iconic songs.
Nancy Guthrie search enters its second week as a purported deadline looms
"This is very valuable to us, and we will pay," Savannah Guthrie said in a new video message, seeking to communicate with people who say they're holding her mother.
Immigration courts fast-track hearings for Somali asylum claims
Their lawyers fear the notices are merely the first step toward the removal without due process of Somali asylum applicants in the country.
Ilia Malinin’s Olympic backflip made history. But he’s not the first to do it
U.S. figure skating phenom Ilia Malinin did a backflip in his Olympic debut, and another the next day. The controversial move was banned from competition for decades until 2024.
‘Dizzy’ author recounts a decade of being marooned by chronic illness
Rachel Weaver worked for the Forest Service in Alaska where she scaled towering trees to study nature. But in 2006, she woke up and felt like she was being spun in a hurricane. Her memoir is Dizzy.
Bad Bunny makes Puerto Rico the home team in a vivid Super Bowl halftime show
The star filled his set with hits and familiar images from home, but also expanded his lens to make an argument about the place of Puerto Rico within a larger American context.
Japan’s Takaichi to pursue conservative agenda after election landslide
Japan's first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, brought the ruling Liberal Democratic Party its biggest-ever electoral victory, fueling her ambitions to pursue to a political agenda which she says could "split public opinion."
