Lovemore Tshuma, commonly known as Lovemore Majaivana is a Zimbabwean musician, arguably the most popular Ndebele singer, and by far the most prominent to have come out of Gweru. He earned the stage name 'Majaivana' for his exceptional dancing.
Biography
Early life and career
Lovemore Tshuma gave birth to Majaivana in Gwelo. At the age of four, Majaivana's family moved to Bulawayo where he sang in the church choir where his father was minister. By the age of 15 he became a drummer in a local Bulawayo band, the Hi-Chords. After moving to the capital city, Salisbury he gave up drumming and began singing in nightclubs covering Tom Jones and Elvis Presley songs. After playing in Bulawayo for four years, he returned to Salisbury and formed his own band, Jobs Combination named after Job's Nightclub where the group was the resident band. By age of 16 the musician in Lovemore was evident. Majaivana and his friend Mtshapi! A neighbor, built their own first set of drums from plastics and empty cardboard barrels cut in half. They carried these drums all over the localBeer Gardens in Bulawayo playing to adoring patrons for a meager fee or whatever the patrons saw fit. This brazen effort by Lovemore paid off a year later because Lovemore would be on a real set of drums.off in Bulawayo had young bands in their teens flourishing within the city. There was; the Eye of Liberty, Common Five, Live Wire. Love ore became lead singer for the Hi Chords the local Boys Clubs. Soon they were playing at bigger venues like the famous Valley Hotel, the Great Northern, Marisha Cocktail Bar and the likes. Lovemore liked to dance also as he sang hence the name Majaivana derivative from the English word "jive". Early songs covered were teeny-bopper, bubblegum and rock then the Tom Jones ballads. They covered the Beatles, Grassroots, Rolling Stones and any top hits between 1968 and 1970.
Jobs Combination involved teaming up with blind singer Fanyana Dube, performing various popular musical idioms. They had several successful singles early on, and their debut album, Isitimela, was a big seller. Despite all this, the bandbroke up shortly thereafter, and Majaivana sang with the Real Sounds for about two months.
Later career
The turning point in his career came when he joined the Zulus, a band from Victoria Falls which featured two of his brothers. Finally having a stable base from which to work, Majaivana and his band released an album of traditional folk songs, Salanini Zinini, that he and his brothers had learned from their mother in 1984. From then, he progressed away from his former Western influences, and his popularity steadily grew especially in Ndebele speaking Matebeleland and Bulawayo in particular. His first international album was released in 1990. He left Zimbabwe in 2000 and retired from the music business.
