Mike Nyoni

(1947- May 7, 1991) Mike Nyoni was a Zambian singer and guitarist who was active in Zambia in the 1970's and 80s. He was known for bringing the funk style into Zamrock and for his Kalidula singles in the 1980's.

Nyoni was born in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1947 to a Zambian migrant family in Zimbabwe. He returned to Zambia during the turmoil of the Rhodesian War in the early 1970's. There he got into the burgeoning Zamrock music scene, eventually joining the Zamrock band The Born Free as the lead singer and as a songwriter. He stayed with Born Free though their 1975 soul/funk album [m1138425], and a single or two before going solo. As a solo artists, he released two albums of his own, both with with a mix of soul/funk Zamrock melodies. With the death of Zamrock, by 1980, Nyoni, like most of Zambia's musical artists, embraced other forms of Zambian popular music of the era, becoming a Kalindula artist. With the hard economic times of the 1980's, he was unable to be a full time musician, but still produced numerous singles throughout the 80's. He died of malaria in 1991.