Online Reporter
In yesterday’s edition of this newspaper, we asked the question: Is this the finest hour of his career?
He has been performing at a packed Wembley, singing a song with Afribeats superstar Burna Boy and sharing the stage with super group Coldplay once again.
WE also asked if this was even bigger than the Bhundu Boys and Madonna at the same stadium in 1987?
Back then, Biggie Tembo and the Bhundu Boys played before about 85,000 fans at Wembley.
They were part of the supporting act of Madonna’s sold out concerts.
On the weekend that Thomas Mapfumo was bidding farewell to his UK fans in Birmingham, Shone was sharing the stage with some of the world’s biggest stars in London.
One of the videos shows Shone hugging Burna Boy when he came onto the stage and then the two artists singing together as they entertained a huge crowd.
“Mwari waShone, shared the stage together with Burna Boy at Wembley,” Shone posted on his social media handles.
Shone has been part of Coldplay’s tour since it entered its Asian leg.
The British super group has played before more than 12 million fans across 43 countries.
The tour started in March 2022 and Coldplay has played at venues across Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, making it the highest attended tour in history.
The group will perform 10 sold-out nights at Wembley.
It has been an experience for Shone.
What cannot be denied is that Shone has been given an opportunity to showcase his talent before a global audience and, so far, he has been doing a good job of it.
He has accepted the challenge and has shown that he can perform before such huge crowds.
To see him singing the same song with Burna Boy was just amazing.
The challenge for Shone is that he is not a big name back home.
It’s very likely that if Shone was to come to Harare and stage a show, on his own, he won’t get even 50 fans coming to watch his show.
It’s also very likely that more fans will choose to go and watch other young and upcoming artists like Holy Ten than pay to watch Shone live on stage.
This is the same challenge which has also confronted Mokoomba.
The Victoria Falls group are huge around the world and play at big festivals in the United States and Europe where they are treated as stars.
But, back home, Mokoomba are struggling to get big crowds at their live shows and get the same star treatment they get in Europe and the United States.
We need to embrace our stars who are doing well around the world.
We need to make them feel that we appreciate their talent and we are proud of what they are doing around the world.
