by Noah Peretz (Rogovoy Report intern)

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – The Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward (Fri, July 19) and Grammy Award-winning South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Fri, Aug 9) have been added to the summer concert calendar at the Mahaiwe.

As the driving force behind the Moody Blues, Justin Hayward wrote classics including “Nights in White Satin,” “Question,” “New Horizons,” “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere,” “Tuesday Afternoon,” “Story in Your Eyes,” “The Voice” and “Your Wildest Dreams.” Over the last five and a half decades, the band has sold over 55 million albums and received numerous awards. Hayward has also had prolific success as a solo artist. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, and Hayward was personally honored in 2022 with an Order of the British Empire. English guitar player Mike Dawes will warm up the crowd for Hayward on Friday, July 19 at 8pm.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo will return to the Mahaiwe stage on Friday, August 9 at 8pm, having sold out the theater during its last visit in 2015. For 60 years, South Africa’s five-time Grammy Award winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo have captivated audiences worldwide with uplifting vocal harmonies, signature dance moves, and charming onstage banter.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo first came to worldwide prominence with its contributions to Paul Simon’s 1987 Gracelandalbum. In 2018, the group received two Grammy Award nominations for two separate albums, a first in the history of World Music. These two nominations brought their career total to 19 Grammy Award nominations. One of these albums, Shaka Zulu Revisited, won Best World Music Album. In 2019, Ladysmith Black Mambazo collaborated for the third time with the famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company on a production entitled Lindiwe and released an album with songs from the show. With their 2024 release, Soothe My Soul…Songs From Our South African Church, the group puts their spin on gospel music.