Albert Mazibuko, one of the longest-serving members of the iconic South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, died on Easter Sunday at the age of 77 following a short illness, the group announced on their Facebook page. Mazibuko joined Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1969, recruited by his cousin Joseph Shabalala who had founded the collective nine years earlier. Over more than five decades, the group fused indigenous Zulu songs and dances with isicathamiya, a South African acapella tradition characterised by a soft, shuffling style of dance. They achieved global recognition when American musician Paul Simon recruited them to sing on his multi-million-selling 1986 album Graceland, though Simon faced criticism at the time for breaking the cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa. The group went on to win five Grammy Awards. The collective paid tribute to Mazibuko as a man who was "kind to a fault" and a "saint" who served as a "wise elder" for younger members. They said he never tired of talking about the group's history and its desire to spread "peace, love and harmony" everywhere people had ears to listen. Mazibuko grew up in the eastern town of uMnambithi, formally known as Ladysmith, and had left school early to work full-time on a farm before joining the group. South African Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie described Mazibuko as "more than a performer" and "the custodian of a uniquely South African sound that travelled across the world and united people through music." Mazibuko had spoken movingly to the BBC in 2015 about life under apartheid, recalling the fear of being arrested for not carrying the ID books that the regime used to restrict the movement of black South Africans. He described seeing millions queue to vote in the first post-apartheid election in 1994 as being "like heaven." The current Ladysmith Black Mambazo line-up, a mix of long-standing members and newer musicians, had been touring in the United States since February and were due to play their last stateside show on Friday.