Free Nelson Mandela

Did You Know?

• The backing vocals were performed by Molly and Polly Jackson, two girls the band's drummer John Bradbury had "met in a bar in Camden".
• In December 2013, following the news of Nelson Mandela's death, the single re-entered at number 96 on the UK Singles Chart.
• Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had recently condemned Mandela as a terrorist because of his resistance against the South African government.
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band opened with the song in January 2014, at the Bellville Velodrome in Cape Town, South Africa, in the band's first ever concert in South Africa, which took place just six weeks after Mandela's death.
• The song was featured on Peter Kay's spoof television programme Britain's Got the Pop Factor.

Reception

Jerry Dammers wrote “Nelson Mandela” after attending an anti-apartheid concert in London in 1983, knowing little about Mandela at the time. The song, released in 1984 by the Special A.K.A. with Stan Campbell on lead vocals, was a protest against Mandela’s imprisonment under South Africa’s apartheid regime. Unlike many protest songs, it is upbeat and celebratory, drawing on South African musical influences. It reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart and was hugely popular in Africa. Following Mandela’s death in December 2013, the single re-entered the UK chart at number 96.

The backing vocals came from Molly and Polly Jackson, two girls the band’s drummer met in a Camden bar, while session singers including Claudia Fontaine and Caron Wheeler—later of Soul II Soul—sang the chorus. Dammers noted that the song was banned in South Africa but played at football matches, which were communal gatherings for black South Africans. South African writer Jonny Steinberg reflected on what Mandela’s name came to mean. DJ Paul Gambaccini said that if the Specials were behind it, there must be something to it.

Campbell left the band right after recording and filming the video, returning only for two Top of the Pops appearances in 1984 before leaving for good. That same year, Wadham College, Oxford’s student union voted to end every college dance with the song, a tradition that continues. A 1988 remake for Mandela’s 70th birthday featured Elvis Costello, Dave Wakeling, Ranking Roger, and Lynval Golding on backing vocals. At the 90th birthday tribute in Hyde Park in 2008, Amy Winehouse sang lead, but at times replaced “Free Nelson Mandela” with “Free Blakey, My Fella,” a reference to her husband.