PJ Powers to release new single

Despite her struggles, Powers has been in the music business for more than 30 years and she’s still going strong. In fact, she’s about to release a new single.

The music maestro revealed that she will be re-releasing her 1986 classic, There is an answer, but this time she’s collaborated with local gospel singer Sfiso Ncwane. “I was very excited when he agreed to sing with me,” she said.

“He’s young, he’s hip and he’s a magnificent gospel singer. He’s got a beautiful soul voice and at times it almost sounds like Joe Cocker.”

The inspiration behind the original version of There is an answer came after Powers was a witness to the first woman who was necklaced in a township she was visiting at the time. “It was horrifying, as you can imagine. But it was so weird because I went home and wrote There is an answer.”

She added that musician, Chicco Twala, was also touched by the tragedy and wrote I am a soldier, and it was just the different perspectives of how each of them felt that night after witnessing such an event.

So why the re-release? “I was listening to all my old catalogue stuff and when I stumbled across There is an answer, I realised just how applicable it was again in this country. There is an answer and I think we all need to take a deep breath and not panic. We can make this country work.”

It’s well known that Powers has seen quite a bit of controversy in her day, but she refuses to let the past weigh her down. She often thinks back to one of the many highlights of her career, one that she can recall at the drop of a hat because it will always stay with her. “I know that moment, definitely, because that’s the moment my life changed. It was 31 May 1982 at Jabulani Amphitheatre when I was given the name Thandeka, and You’re so good to me was a hit. It was that day when I was embraced by the people of South Africa – and nothing caps that.”

Powers knows the industry well, so she’s constantly working. She’s in the process of writing a one-woman musical inspired by a period in her life in the 80s, where she and legendary musicians such as Brenda Fassie, Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse and Yvonne Chaka Chaka visited a number of townships and sang the night away.

Now … we can’t spill the beans on when it’s set to hit the stage but it’s definitely one to see.

Details: www.pjpowers.co.za