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Hugh Masakela was a South African flugelhorn, trumpet, and cornet player, born on April 4, 1939, in Witbank, Mpumalanga, South Africa. He passed away on January 23, 2018, in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. In 1961, as part of the anti-apartheid campaign, he was exiled to the United States, where he found friendship and collaboration opportunities. Masakela primarily played in jazz ensembles and made guest appearances on albums by various artists. He was inspired in his musical journey by Trevor Huddleston, a British priest who financed his first trumpet. He gained prominence in the Sophiatown scene and traveled to Britain with the musical "King Kong," eventually finding himself in New York in the early 1960s. He achieved hits in the United States with pop-jazz tunes like "Up, Up And Away" and the number one hit "Grazing In The Grass." His 1987 single "Bring Him Back Home" became an anthem for the movement to free Nelson Mandela. After the end of apartheid, Masakela returned to South Africa, where he rekindled his interest in African roots, collaborating with West and Central African musicians and reconnecting with South African players. He set up a mobile studio in Botswana during the 1980s, where he incorporated mbaqanga strains into his music, a style he continued to use after returning to

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