At 68, Yondo Sister is showing no signs of slowing down. The Congolese dance sensation, widely known as the Queen of Soukous, arrived in Harare yesterday ready to perform at the Ecobank Legends Night Africa show at Alex Sports Club tomorrow. She will share the stage with Malian music legend Salif Keita, Intotal Band and a strong line-up of Zimbabwean performers.
For Yondo Sister, the concert is another chapter in a career that began on stage in 1975 and has carried her through some of the most important periods in the history of Congolese popular music. She marked 50 years in the music business last year and is now in the 51st year of a journey that began with dance before taking her into singing and international performance.
Speaking shortly after her arrival, she said she was delighted to be back in Zimbabwe and was looking forward to giving local fans the energetic performance that has defined her career.
“I am very happy to be in Zimbabwe. I am excited and I cannot wait to showcase my dance moves and give the people a performance they will remember,” she said.
Yondo Sister’s reputation was built through the close relationship between music and movement that lies at the heart of soukous and kwassa kwassa. Her performances are marked by fast footwork, sharp changes of rhythm and a stage presence that keeps the audience involved. Even after decades in the business, the dancer in her remains central to the singer she became.
She first entered the professional music world in the 1970s as a dancer alongside her sister, Chantal Yondo, in Tabu Ley Rochereau’s L’Afrisa International band. The group was one of the leading forces in Congolese music, and working under Tabu Ley gave Yondo Sister the opportunity to develop in front of large audiences and alongside some of the era’s most accomplished musicians.
Her early work was not limited to dance. Under Tabu Ley’s mentorship, she moved into singing, a change that would shape the rest of her career. The transition allowed her to combine her powerful voice with the physical performance that had already made her noticeable on stage.
By the early 1990s, Yondo Sister had established herself as a solo artist. She released Bazo in 1991, followed by Déviation Sexy Soukouss in 1993 and Dernière Minute in 1995. Later projects included Planète, FBI and Agenda. The albums helped build her identity as a leading female voice in soukous, while songs such as “Mwana Kento” gave her a strong connection with listeners across Africa.
Her career has also crossed borders. Now based in Paris, she has remained connected to African audiences through concerts and musical projects. Her catalogue and stage style have kept her name familiar to generations who grew up with Congolese rumba and soukous on the radio, at family gatherings and in dance halls.
Zimbabwe has been an important part of that journey. Yondo Sister has returned to the country several times over the years, performing for audiences who have long embraced Congolese rhumba and kwassa kwassa. In 2020, she was due to hold what was described at the time as her last show in Zimbabwe before considering an end to her live performances. Her return to Harare this weekend gives that earlier farewell a different meaning and places her once again before the Zimbabwean fans who have followed her music for decades.
She said her experiences with Zimbabwean audiences had always been positive.
“Zimbabwean people are lovely and very supportive. The love and energy I receive whenever I am here is amazing. I am really looking forward to Saturday.”
That relationship is not based only on nostalgia. Yondo Sister continues to perform with the confidence of an artist who understands how to move between generations. Older fans know her from the height of the soukous era, while younger listeners have encountered her through recordings, videos and the continued popularity of Congolese dance music.
She is also looking forward to meeting the other performers on the bill and taking part in an event designed to bring established African musicians together with Zimbabwean talent.
“I am looking forward to the whole experience — meeting the other artists, getting on stage and celebrating music with the people of Zimbabwe. We are coming to have fun and create memories together. I just want everyone to come, enjoy themselves, dance with us and celebrate. I am happy to be here and I am ready to give Zimbabwe my best,” she said.
The concert’s international line-up is led by Salif Keita, who arrived in Harare earlier this week. The Malian singer, songwriter and musician is returning to Zimbabwe after 11 years. His last performance in the country was at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in 2015, when he appeared at Harare Gardens.
Keita is recognised for a sound that brings together traditional West African music with elements of jazz, funk, rhythm and blues and pop. His return has added another layer of history to an event built around veteran performers, but Yondo Sister’s presence gives the show a different kind of force: the direct, physical energy of a performer whose music has always been made for the dance floor.
The programme will also include Intotal Band and local acts, with performers including established Zimbabwean musicians and groups. The organisers have described the event as a meeting point for different generations and musical traditions, bringing Zimbabwean sounds together with styles from across the continent.
Intotal Band is hosting the event, which is expected to run as a live celebration of African musical heritage and contemporary entertainment. With both international headliners now in the country, attention has shifted to tomorrow afternoon, when Alex Sports Club will welcome fans hoping to see two enduring African stars on the same stage.
For Yondo Sister, however, the performance is more than an appearance on a large bill. It is a return to a country where her music has continued to resonate, and a chance to demonstrate why her name has survived changing fashions in African entertainment.
At a time when many performers from the golden era of Congolese popular music are remembered mainly through old recordings, Yondo Sister remains a live artist. Her voice, dance moves and command of the stage are still the centre of her appeal. She has spent more than half a century turning rhythm into movement, and she is arriving in Harare determined to do it again.
Tomorrow, the Queen of Soukous will have the opportunity to show that age has not taken away the quality that first made her stand out in 1975. For the fans waiting at Alex Sports Club, the promise is simple: music, dance and a chance to see one of Africa’s most distinctive performers give Zimbabwe her best.