WATCH | Ringo, tribute to fallen heroes & other highlights from Scorpion Kings Live festival

Thousands of music fans packed Africa’s largest stadium, the FNB Stadium in Nasrec, Johannesburg, on Saturday for the highly anticipated Scorpion Kings Live concert, which turned out to be a celebration of South Africa’s diverse musical tapestry.

From hip-hop, Maskandi, Afro-soul, and amapiano, the star-studded showcase delivered hit after hit and united generations.

One of the most talked-about performances came from legend Ringo Madlingozi, who recently shot up trends lists after a video of him in the studio with the Scorpion Kings went viral. He performed his hit songs including, Sondela , and Ndiyagodola .

Speaking to TshisaLIVE after his performance, Ringo said: “I felt the vibe from here and from afar. It’s the youngsters, they were singing with me. These are the songs that their mothers and their grandmothers have been playing. When I went back to Phori, he said that’s what they [the fans] wanted to hear.

“I’m glad that I’m here. I will talk to the youth because I’ll introduce the old songs to the youth, and the new songs to the old. The energy is beautiful. I told Maphorisa that I know he’s busy but we need to go back to the studio because he’s given people the teaser, now we need to do it for real. So it’s coming.”

A poignant moment was when singer Ami Faku took to the stage to perform her hit single Abalele as a tribute to fallen music giants Riky Rick, Costa Titch, Killer Kau, Mpura and Mpura as their AI-generated images were displayed on the screen, but it was images of AKA and DJ Sumbody that had the crowd screaming the loudest.

That moment was followed by a celebration of women in music, when she later got back on stage again to perform Asibe Happy and was joined by Msaki, Busiswa, Nkosazana Daughter, Lady Du, Thatohatsi and Kamo Mphela.

“I’m very connected to the crowd so I read the room and let the energy build naturally. Once I feel that connection, it’s almost like the crowd becomes part of the performance. I’ve learnt that being high energy doesn’t mean giving everything away at once. It’s about knowing when to push, when to breathe and when to give them that moment they’re going to remember.