Personal life and career of Andy Brown
Andy aka Godfrey aka Mavunganidze aka Cadia Shoko’s s a late great Zimbabwean musician who is widely known for his hit song Mapurisa among many others.
Early life
Andy is the 1st of 7 children, her mother, Zvondiwe, was a nurse and her father a British Doctor. Andy lived with her mother for 5 years after he was born, after which his mother remarried. He was sent to live with his aunt in the village. Life was not pleasant there but when he finished Grade Seven, our mother took him to come and live with rest of the family in Bulawayo.
“Our father became abusive. He would beat our mother up saying ‘handina mwana murungu ini’ (I don’t have a white child). Andy would hear all this and after a while, he ran away from home to live on the streets.”
Queen Mashie says their mother found Andy but could not take him back home. They decided to place him in an orphanage.
“At that time his age did not allow him to be in an orphanage so they changed his age from his authentic March 15, 1959, to 1962, to make him younger.”
It was at the orphanage that Cadia Shoko became Andy Brown, although she says she will never know if he came up with the name himself or if it was given by staff at the home. Later on, Andy managed to set the record straight with his mother and built her a house.
Career
Andy Brown went to have a very successful career in music. He ranked among the best ever produced by Zimbabwe.
He infused his music with his political beliefs, drawing criticism and praise in equal measure in Zimbabwe’s highly-polarised political environment.
Brown, also famed for hits such as Fiona and Mawere Kongonya, began his music career with the hugely successful band, Ilanga, in 1986. Its members included Don Gumbo, Busi Ncube and Comrade Chinx.
His path as an artist was not easy but the group member were all friends which made a bit easier. They started with various instruments and sounds, and wrote and composed original songs. Their music was popular in Zimbabwe at the time and as a result, has difficulties in getting signed.
They, therefore, paid for their own recordings, spent 4 years playing to small crowds then finally found success. The band, however, failed to handle the success and disbanded. After the group disbanded, Andy went on to pursue a solo career. He formed Andy Brown and the Storm with whom he went on to release more than 10 albums.
Through out his career, he guarded jealously the Zimbabwean Language.
Death
Andy Brown died on March 16, 2012, at the age of 50 after battling an ailment for some time. His grave is covered with a beautiful granite tombstone shaped like a guitar in honour of the amazing things Andy Brown did with the instrument over the decades. He survived by 10 children from seven mothers. He married 3 of these mothers, among them Maraire, Stordat and Fidela Fazilahmed.
