Afric Simone

Afric Simone (born Henrique Simone, 17 July 1956) is a Mozambican vocalist, musician, performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, dancer and entertainer.

In 1972 the single Mister Barracuda, was released, that brought Afric #1 in charts of many South American countries.

After that Afric has started to spend more time performing in South America, especially in Brazil, than in Africa.

At the certain point Afric's manager asked him to come to London.

With first steps in show business in London, he has gathered invaluable experience for appearances in other European capitals.

He gathered experience in doing gigs all over Europe.

He was lucky that Eddie Barclay, the French record tycoon, went to see a show in Paris.

They immediately signed the contract.

Afric Simone speaks German, English, Portuguese, French, Spanish, and various African languages, however his songs are written in the mixture of Swahili and few words from other languages.

This idea resulted in a mixture of his own native tongue and European Happy Sound.

He entered the European charts with his first hit "Ramaya" in 1975, which was followed by another well-known song, "Hafanana", which was released later the same year.

Simone reached the peak of his popularity between 1975 and 1980 on both sides of the Iron Curtain, hence he toured the USSR, Poland, the GDR and Czechoslovakia in the Eastern Bloc, and retains that popularity even today throughout Europe.

Simone is one of the most prominent African musicians, being one of the few musicians of Mozambican ethnicity who sold-out shows at major international venues including L'Olympia, The Royal Albert Hall and the Carnegie Hall.

Simone was born in Inhambane, to a Brazilian father and Mozambique-origin mother.

Soon after Afric's birth the family has moved to Brazil, but at the age of 9 (after his father's death) Afric and his mother had to move to her motherland Mozambique on the east coast of Africa.

Afric had to leave school and to start working, to help his mother and sisters.

He was doing baby-sitting in the family of local doctor – and was constantly singing for the baby.

At the age of 15 Afric and his friend moved to the capital of Mozambique, Maputu, and started their studies as masons / brick-layers.

After the lessons have been over, Afric and his friend, in order to earn some money, performed at the city streets: played guitar, sang and danced.

A manager of one of Maputu’s many hotels have notices 2 talented young provincials, and invited them to perform in the hotel restaurant.

So since then Afric was having 3 jobs at a time: on the weekend he was playing guitar and singing in the hotel, and during the working week he was working as a mason during the day and performing on the street in the evenings.

It lasted for approximately 2 years, and slowly Afric gained the local popularity: people started to recognize him on the street, and even the local newspaper wrote about him.

Then the young musician was noticed by a professional music manager from South Africa.

Simone is also said to have pioneered the arts of breakdancing and beatboxing as can be seen in his live performances, for instance in the televised performance of his song "Playa Blanca", c.1975.

In 1978, he settled in Berlin, Germany.

Afric Simone has been married 3 times.

His current wife is ethnically Russian.

They have met in Berlin in 2003.

Afric Simone has been appearing in TV shows in France, Italy, Germany and in 2017 Belarus.