Ray Phiri

Ray Phiri (born 23 March 1947, Hermansberg, near Nelspruit, South Africa – died 12 July 2017, Nelspruit, South Africa) was a South African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga guitarist and vocalist, songwriter, producer and arranger. He founded the soul band [a396514] in Johannesburg in 1972. When that group folded, he went on to launch [a=Stimela], a hugely successful mbaquanga/fusion outfit which released several platinum-selling albums and appeared on [a=Paul Simon]'s [m=55658] album and subsequent tours.

He served as chairperson of the Mpumalanga Arts Council.