Alick Nkhata, broadcaster, musician and social commentator

Alick Nkhata was born in 1922 in the Kasama District of Nothern Rhodesia now Zambia. He was a popular Zambian musician and broadcaster in the 1950s through to the mid-1970s. Much of the traditional Zambian music was preserved through his efforts through producing and recording.

During World War 2, he was stationed in Burma. It is here that he began his musical career shortly after returning to Northern Rhodesia as a field recording engineer for ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in 1946.
Nkhata went on to work with the Central African Broadcasting System (CABS), where he oversaw the recording of traditional music and rose to the position of deputy director of broadcasting and director of Zambian cultural services.

He made his presence felt as a musician with the late-'1940s music quartet, which evolved into the larger Lusaka Radio Band which performed regularly on Zambian radio during the 1950s. He continued to balance his radio and music careers until 1974 when he retired to his farm in Mkushi to devote his attention to singing and writing new tunes.
Four years later, he fell victim to raids by South Rhodesian forces during a cross-border raid against Zimbabwean liberation fighters.

One of his best known songs for Alick Nkhata include "Shalapo" and Other Love Songs.