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Simon Chimbetu a.k.a. Chopper, (1955 - 14 August 2005) was a Zimbabwean guitarist, vocalist and composer. He was the founding member his band Dendera Kings. He is famous for penning and singing such songs as Samatenga, One Way, Dzandipedza Mafuta and many others. The man had great charm, a cheeky smile and a very warm personality. The guitar work on his songs is most exraordinary. Simon also had a great facility with languages, being fluent in several and having in sung in Shona, Chewa, Ndebele and Swahili, among others. Having at one time joined the liberation war, Chimbetu is also noted for his critical lyrics such as in the songs Southern Africa, Kuipa Chete and Simba Nederere, among many others. He died in August 2005 following injuries sustained in a car accident. Upon returning to Zimbabwe from Tanzania in the late 1970s, Chimbetu worked for a tobacco processing firm while learning the musical ropes. During these days he sang at clubs and hotels with the Sungura Boys, fronted by John Chibadura. The Sungura Boys however just provided the instrumental backing, with Simon and Naison, his brother doing their own vocals. Together, the two rose to fame as Marxist Brothers, a name that sums up Chimbetu's ideological orientation at the time. After recording several albums together, the two split in 1988 with Simon forming his own band, The Orchestra Dendera Kings while Naison formed his Gee(Great) 7 Commandos. Simon eveidently had the greater talent and share of the market and enjoyed success upon susscess. This was interrupted by his 4-year imprisonment from 1989 after being convicted of receiving stolen property(a car). He was released in 1994 and immediately shot to the top with Pachipamwe(Welcome Back). Many say his best ever albums are 1997's Survival and 1998's Lullaby which are highly critical of the Mugabe regime. After this purple patch, Simon 's career plummeted after he became more directly linked to the misruling ZANU-PF party. Curiously, at the time of his death in 2005, his career appeared to be on the mend with the release of 10 Million Pounds Reward. On this album, he sings about many issues, one of which is thwe unequal resource distribution in Zimbabwe on the Chewa song, Governor Cornwell.Chimbetu himself was of Chewa origin although he was born and raised in Zimbabwe. When he was declared a provincial hero, his catual burial was kept a secret in line with Chewa burial traditions.
