Manfred Mann (musician)

Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann (1967)
Background information
Birth name	Manfred Sepse Lubowitz
Born	(1940-10-21) 21 October 1940 (age 76) Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa
Instruments	Keyboards, vocals
Years active	1960s–present
Associated acts	Manfred Mann Manfred Mann Chapter Three Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Website	manfredmann.co.uk
Notable instruments
Keyboards

Manfred Mann (born Manfred Sepse Lubowitz, 21 October 1940 in Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa) is a South African–British keyboard player, guitarist, and vocalist best known as a founding member and namesake of Manfred Mann, Manfred Mann Chapter Three and Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

Lubowitz was raised in a Jewish family in Johannesburg, South Africa, the son of David Lubowitz and Alma Cohen. He studied music at the University of the Witwatersrand, and worked as a jazz pianist at a number of clubs in Johannesburg. Between 1959 and 1961 he and his childhood friend Saul Ozynski recorded two albums as the Vikings – South Africa's first rock and roll band.

Strongly opposed to the apartheid system in his native South Africa, Lubowitz moved to the United Kingdom in 1961 and began to write for "Jazz News" under the pseudonym Manfred Manne (after jazz drummer Shelly Manne), which was soon shortened to Manfred Mann. The next year he met drummer and keyboard player Mike Hugg at Clacton Butlins Holiday Camp and together they formed a large blues-jazz band called the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers. This eventually evolved into a 5-piece group and they signed a record deal with EMI in 1963, under the HMV label.