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The Lion Sleeps Tonight

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"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" began as a 1939 African pop hit "Mbube" that, in modified versions, also became a hit in the US and UK.

The song was first recorded by its writer, Solomon Linda, and his group, The Evening Birds, in 1939 under the title "Mbube" (Zulu for "lion"). Gallo Studios paid Linda a single fee for the recording and no royalties. "Mbube" became a hit throughout South Africa and sold about one hundred thousand copies during the 1940s. The song became so popular it lent its name to a style of African a capella music. Solomon Linda later died in poverty.

American musicologist Alan Lomax brought the song to the attention of folk group The Weavers' Pete Seeger. In 1952, they recorded their version entitled "Wimoweh", a mishearing of the original song's chorus of 'uyimbube' (meaning "you're a lion"), and credited the four group members as the composers (under the group psuedonym Paul Campbell) and published by Folkways. Their 1952 version became a top 20 hit in the US, and their live 1957 recording turned it into a folk music staple. This version was covered in 1959 by The Kingston Trio. Pete Seeger later said in the book "A Lion's Trail": “The big mistake I made was not making sure that my publisher signed a regular songwriters’ contract with Linda. My publisher simply sent Linda some money and copyrighted The Weavers’ arrangement here and sent The Weavers some money.”

For The Tokens' 1961 cover "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", new lyrics were written by George Weiss, Luigi Creatore, and Hugo Peretti, based very loosely upon the meaning of the original song. The Tokens' version rose to number one on the Billboard charts and still receives fairly frequent replay on many American oldies radio stations. Since then, "Wimoweh"/"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" has remained popular and frequently covered.

In 2000 South African journalist Rian Malan wrote a feature article for Rolling Stone magazine, highlighting Linda's story and estimating that the song had earned US $15 million for its use in The Lion King alone, this prompted the PBS television documentary "The Lion's Trail".

In July 2004 the song became the subject of a lawsuit between the family of its writer Solomon Linda and Disney. The suit claimed that Disney owed $1.6 million in royalties for the use of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in the film and stage production of The Lion King. Meanwhile, publisher of The Weavers' "Wimoweh", TRO/Folkways, began to pay $3000 annually to Linda's heirs.

In February 2006 Linda's heirs reached a legal settlement with Abilene Music, who held the worldwide rights and had licensed the song to Disney. This settlement applies to worldwide rights, not just South African, since 1987.


Selected list of recorded versions

Mbube

Wimoweh

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

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