Johannes Kerkorrel: wise fool who left the fray

Abstract

Johannes Kerkorrel, talented Afrikaner musician, journalist and songwriter, was born in Johannesburg on 27 March 1960 as Ralph John Rabie. He started singing in the late 1980s while working for the Afrikaner newspaper Rapport after studying journalism at the University of Potchefstroom. In 1987 he was fired from the newspaper because of his political activism. In 1980, Rabie married fellow university student Anne Grobler. The couple had a baby boy, but later separated. Kerkorrel's music was critical of the apartheid government and, as a result, many of his albums were banned, including most songs on his first album Eet Kreef! (Eat Crayfish). A child musical prodigy, he learnt to play the organ by the age of 11 and performed at weddings. It is likely that this is where he took his stage name Johannes Kerkorrel from, as the Afrikaans word for organ is 'orrel' and he played the wedding march and other music in church - 'kerk' in Afrikaans - hence 'Kerkorrel'.