Three decades after stepping into the gospel music industry, Eastern Cape-born singer Veliswa Skeyi is celebrating a career built on faith, perseverance and a message of hope that has crossed generations.
Born in Zwelitsha, Skeyi rose to prominence in the mid-1990s as lead singer of gospel group Lord Comforters, before launching a successful solo career.
This year marks 30 years since she began her musical journey, a milestone she plans to celebrate with a tour starting in Zwelitsha towards the end of the year.
But the journey has been anything but easy.
Skeyi’s career was severely disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought live performances to a standstill just as she was preparing to promote Nyathela, released in September 2019.
“There were no shows for the whole year. Companies that helped us to record were closing down and our work was taken from one company to the other,” Skeyi said.
She stepped back to focus on her family as the industry struggled to recover.
When bookings resumed in 2022, artists could no longer command their pre-pandemic fees, while the decline in CD sales and rise of streaming had changed the industry’s business model.
“The royalties there were not enough because we didn’t have the flow we had when we were still selling CDs,” she said.
Skeyi gradually rebuilt her career during 2023 and 2024, working extensively with churches and performing at their events.
Her musical journey began with Lord Comforters, whose first album was recorded at Amatola Sun in 1997.
She recorded seven albums with the group before releasing another 11 as a solo artist, including her hit album Dwala Lami.
Her music has taken her across all nine provinces and to Eswatini, Lesotho and Botswana.
For Skeyi, however, the greatest measure of success is not the number of albums she has recorded or places she has performed at, but the lives touched by her music.
She is often surprised when younger people tell her they grew up listening to her songs because their mothers played them while doing household chores.
Others discovered her music through sick relatives who requested her songs for comfort.
“My music is about giving people hope, strengthening their faith.
“It carries a message that whatever happens, God is there and he will lift you up,” she said.
Her career has also brought difficult experiences, including promoters who failed to pay her after performances, accidents while travelling to shows, and unsuitable accommodation.
“Because you told yourself you are spreading the word of God, you would continue to work,” she said.
Recent performances have reassured Skeyi that there remains an audience for her music.
A show hosted by Ziyanda Tshingana in Komani sold out, while a revival event in Cambridge drew a full crowd.
Returning to an industry transformed by social media, streaming and a new generation of artists has been daunting.
Skeyi experimented with changing her sound to remain relevant but ultimately decided to remain true to the style that established her career.
“I have tried to change the way I make my music, but I saw that it is not who I am.
“So I have decided to stick to the old me,” she said.
Three decades later, Skeyi remains convinced music was her calling.
“The 30 years was not smooth, but it gave me comfort that I did what God wanted me to do.”
Now she is preparing to celebrate that journey by returning to Zwelitsha, carrying with her three decades of songs and a message of faith and hope that has remained unchanged.
Daily Dispatch
