Lovemore Majaivana

BIO

Lovemore Tshuma, best known as Majaivana, is a US-based Zimbabwean artist.

Born on 14 December 1952, Mambo Township, Gweru. His passion for music began at a tender age. He used to rehearse with music groups such as The High Chords and the Echoes in Bulawayo. At 15, he became a drummer for a local Bulawayo band. He later moved to Salisbury (now Harare) whe he founded a group called Jobs Combination - named after after Job's Nightclub where the group was the resident band.

At 16, he and his friend Mtshapi, made set of drums from plastics and empty cardboard barrels. He later bought a new set of drums and formed a band comprising Joseph Msonda and the late Jonah Sithole. He became the lead singer of another group called Hi Chords. The band released a debut album ‘Isitimela’. It disbanded and Majaivana joined the Real Sounds for about two months. He later joined a Victoria Falls band called the Zulus. The band released an album called ‘Salanini Zinini’.

Some of the tracks from his best LPs are ‘Okwabanye’ (Some people only take but never give), ‘Mama Ngivulele’, (Mother please give me your blessing), ‘Istimela’, (a lover blaming the train for going with his girlfriend), ‘Ukhozi’ (the hawk taking away a child) and ‘Salanini Zinini’ (farewell all my friends).

In 1987 he toured England and recorded an album called ‘Jiri’. In 1993, his bass guitarist passed on and this saw him quit music. Since 1995, he has not staged a show and began concentrating on buying and selling furniture. Shortly afterwards, he left Zimbabwe for the US.

In 2012, he was honored with a a Life Time Achievement Award at the inaugural Mporiro Arts Festival in the UK.