The surrounding publicity prompted a lawsuit against Abilene Music, who had licensed the song to Disney. The thread was picked up in a Rolling Stone article by journalist Rian Malan, in which he estimated the royalties from the film alone at $15 million. And is still in the top 25 highest grossing animated films of all time. With an initial worldwide gross of $766 million, it finished its theatrical run as the highest-grossing release of 1994. The Lion King was originally released on June 15, 1994, with a positive reaction from critics, who praised the film for its music, story, and animation. The next twist was in 1994 when the song was featured in American animated musical film The Lion King, produced and released by Disney. He sent Linda some money then copyrighted The Weavers’ arrangement and sent The Weavers some money.” When Seeger realised the error, he arranged a donation of $1000 and his share of ongoing royalties to Linda, but it seemed even this never found its way back. As Seeger has put it: “The big mistake I made was not making sure my publisher signed a regular songwriters’ contract with Linda. It seems in the complicated process of licensing and publishing, either Linda’s ownership of the composition was ignored, or nobody quite followed the legal trail back to the original composer. The trouble was that as the song evolved, no provision was made for recognising Linda’s original work. The song now-named “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” reached number one at the end of 1961 and inspired a seemingly endless string of covers. Unfortunately, as Gallo had purchased the recording from Linda (for a reported ten shillings), Linda never earned anything from the sales. It became a big hit and made Linda a star among black audiences. One night after his shift he was permitted to use the studio to record a song he called “Mbube”, meaning Lion in Zulu. In 1939 Linda worked as a cleaner at the Gallo Record Company. Inspired by traditional call-and-response chants, they built four-part harmonies with Linda’s improvised vocals soaring over the top. He moved to Johannesburg in his 20s and formed an a cappella band he called the Evening Birds, who built a popular following with their distinctive style. He never learned to read or write, but he was much admired as a singer. Music has its share of “unsung” heroes, although occasionally they achieve recognition in unexpected ways and at unexpected times.īorn in 1909, Solomon Linda grew up in Zulu country in South Africa.
With the new CGI animated Lion King coming to cinemas this summer, what better time to look at the creation and history of a timeless song, The Lion Sleeps Tonight? Join us as we dive into the rich history of this well known classic. Music, like most art, is not as original as it may seem. The Weavers introduced many folk revival standards to new audiences.Story of a Song – The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Because of this, some folk song fans criticized them for watering down their beliefs and commercializing their singing style.Įncouraging sing-alongs in their concerts, sometimes Seeger would shout out the lyrics in advance of each line. The Weavers first big hit was in 1950 with Lead Belly‘s “ Goodnight, Irene“, backed with the 1941 song “ Tzena, Tzena, Tzena“, which also became a best-seller.ĭuring the Great Red Scare of the early 1950s, their manager advised the group not to sing their most explicitly political songs and to avoid performing at “progressive” venues and events. The Weavers were formed in 1948 by Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Pete Seeger. The group took its name from Die Weber a play written by Gerhart Hauptmann in 1892 that depicted the uprising of the Silesian weavers in 1844. Their style inspired the commercial folk music boom that followed them in the 1950s and 1960s. The Weavers were an American folk quartet from Greenwich Village in New York City who sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children’s songs, labor songs, and American ballads.
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