Boney M to play three SA gigs in December

The band, which has covered a number of genres over the years from reggae to disco, R&B and pop rock, was first formed in 1975, although it was the release of their first number one song, disco anthem Daddy Cool in 1976 which catapulted them to fame.

And the hits kept coming. Rivers of Babylon, ranked as the fifth all-time best-selling single in the UK was quickly followed by Rasputin and Ma Baker.

But of all their hits, it's possibly their Christmas Album and their calypso-inspired version of Mary's Boy Child that is most loved by fans. The track, previously a 1956 hit for Harry Belafonte, sold almost 1.8 million copies in the UK, achieving sales of over 1.6 million in the four weeks of December 1978 when it was ranked number one.

Original lead singer

Although the band was based in Germany, lead singer Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett originally hailed from Jamaica, Bobby Farrell from Aruba and Maizie Williams from Montserrat. Despite breaking up in 1986, German record producer and band founder, Frank Farian, continued to remix, remodel and reissue their songs throughout the 1990s and 2000. Liz Mitchell remains the band's lead singer and will perform in the South African shows.

The two-and-a-half-hour show starts at 8.30pm. Tickets are available from Computicket from between R150 and R520 at Sun City and between R200 and R520 at Carnival City and GrandWest.