Gallo Music Group was saddened to learn of the passing of well-known country singer Lance James, also nicknamed ‘Big Daddy’ on Monday, aged 81 years, following on from a long-term illness.
Lance was an active member of the South African music industry for over 60 years and has a number of recordings and songs signed to the Gallo catalogue, as well as with legendary Afrikaans songstress Min Shaw, and is fondly remembered by the team.
His hits like “Ahoy, Madagaskar Ahoy!”, ‘Dankie’, ‘Hoe Groot is U’, ‘Lied van Hoop’ and ‘Don’t Let the Old Man In’ to name just a few will always be remembered, as will Lance for pioneering Afrikaans and more specifically country music in South Africa.
He had appeared on numerous top TV shows including ‘Kwêla’, ‘Noot vir Noot’ and many more – as, well as taking home a number of prestigious awards, among them, 2 ATKV Honorary Awards for his contribution to music in South Africa.
Lance became a presenter on Springbok Radio in 1954 and went on to remain as one of their most popular announcers until 1985, and he has also appeared in live concerts country wide – from the Sun City Superbowl, The Carousel, Emperors Palace to Carnival City, Graceland and Emerald Casino.
He has also performed globally in countries such as England, Ireland, Spain, Germany and the USA.
Lance was certainly a musical force to be reckoned with, and will not soon be forgotten, not only for his musical prowess, but also for his kind-hearted temperament and humility.