Afrik Simon was born on July 17, 1956 in the small town of Inhambane (Mozambique). His real name is Enrique Joaquim Simon. The boy's childhood was the same as that of hundreds of other children. He went to school, helped his parents with the housework, played games.
When the guy was 9 years old, he was left without a father. Then his mother took him to her homeland, where life was very difficult. The boy went to work at a young age. He was engaged in the fact that he nursed other people's children. We needed money for basic things, but the family did not even have them for food.
When the guy was 15 years old, he moved to live in another city to learn the profession of a bricklayer. During the day, the young man gnawed at the granite of science, and in the evening he earned money by playing in the street. Later, the guys began to dance more.
It was on the street that one of the local authorities drew attention to them - the administrator of one of the city hotels called them to entertain guests.
The ability of young people to work can only be amazed - in the daytime they worked at their main place of work, in the evening they sang and danced on the streets, and on weekends they worked in a hotel restaurant. After the young singer was written about in one of the local periodicals, he was noticed by a famous producer.
Musical creativity of the artist
At the age of 17, the guy went to live in Europe. He also worked there - he sang in the evenings and at night in catering establishments, supplementing performances with incendiary tricks. This was impossible to ignore!
The weight of the young man was 65 kg, but this did not prevent him from masterfully handling weights - juggling them, throwing them up to the ceiling. He also delighted the audience with an unsurpassed jumping split.
The fame of the singer, who decided to take on the pseudonym of the continent, "flyed up" when the guy refused the manner of performance imposed by the producers. He partly gave up singing in English and German. The singer's forte was songs from Latin America in a peculiar manner of performance. He had an interesting play on words, such as the song Barracuda, which can be taken ambiguously.
Unprecedented popularity was awarded to the composition Hafanana, in which it was said that regardless of the color of the skin, every person depends on God's mercy. Optimally chosen synonyms for the name of the song is the motto of the animated film "The Lion King" - "Hakuna matata!".
The singer's artistic portfolio contains nine albums, the lion's share of which was recorded in the 1970s-1990s of the XX century. In the late 1980s, a crisis occurred in the singer's creative activity. He suffered a serious illness, as a result of which he had to go to surgery.
Doctors forbade physical activity. There was a turning point in the artist's creative life, because now the zest has disappeared in his performances. Russian producers working with retro music helped the celebrity not to fall into a depressive state.
Afric Simone's personal life
The charisma of the musician, his courtesy did not leave women indifferent. He spoke five languages, so he repeatedly married women from different countries and divorced them. Now the singer is married to a woman from Russia, whose name is Lyudmila.
They met at one of the concerts. A fan of the performer's talent decided to celebrate his enchanting performance by presenting a bouquet and went up on stage. The artist kissed her in gratitude and realized that this woman had dreamed of him before. That's exactly the one that is the woman of his dreams - so they wrote about it on the Internet.
Afrik Simon himself said that they met in a restaurant when he came there to comfort a friend who had survived a divorce. At the next table, pretty representatives of the beautiful half of humanity were resting, to whom the men paid attention. That's how they met.
The future wife of a celebrity lived in Germany for a long time and did not recognize the singer. Then he began to sing the song Hafanana, she realized who was in front of her and her heart melted, as she grew up on the songs of the singer. This is where the couple's relationship began.
Afrik Simon today
The retirement age of the former singer is not an obstacle to an active lifestyle. He, as before, is cheerful and cheerful, does not have extra pounds, goes in for sports as much as the doctors' recommendations allow him to.
With his wife, he often visits a Russian restaurant to get acquainted with the cuisine of Russia. The singer prepares African dishes for Lyudmila, tells various life stories. He does not talk about the past, does not comment on previous relationships, and also treats former women with respect.
Many men should learn from him! Active citizenship, optimism and a calm attitude to life are the principles on which the personality of the performer was based. He still looks longingly at his old performances, dreaming of "igniting" the audience again.
