Tshepo tshola biography

“It’s the love of what I’m doing that’s kept me in the business,” declared singer and composer Tsepo Tshola, who passed away in Lesotho on July 15, aged 68.

Tshola had been in showbiz for over half a century: a career that stretched from Sesotho roots and popular music in the 1970s, through international tours and collaborations, to his most recent identity as an inspiring gospel singer, and the co-founder of independent music label Killer Joe.

What characterised his work was a passionate desire to tell it as he saw it, whether that was about the evils of racism in the early days of his career, or the dangers of addiction and, more recently, the need for self-reliance.

His righteous preaching earned him the soubriquet of The Village Pope, but was also a family legacy.

The young artist

Tshola was born on 15 August 1953 in Teyateyaneng in Lesotho, a small, mountainous and landlocked country surrounded by its larger neighbour, South Africa. His father was a preacher and church o