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Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Senior Arts Reporter
The wife of the late superstar and national hero Oliver Mtukudzi, Daisy, has hinted that the music icon’s 68th album is near completion, though it is still difficult to master some of the songs because of the absence of his vocals.

Tuku died last year on January 23 at the age of 66 after a long battle with diabetes.

He had 67 albums under his belt.

Clad in a shimmering gold and nude dress with a crown on her head, Daisy made the revelation during Agatha Murudzwa’s album launch held at a local hotel last Friday

“We are busy now mastering Tuku’s unfinished album,” she said. “The challenge we are facing now is the voice on some of the songs because he didn’t finish recording the album after he started feeling unwell.

Praising Murudzwa’s efforts, Daisy said it is hard to come up with an album.

“Being a musician is a tough job,” said Daisy. “I have learnt that from my husband, especially when he was about to release an album. I congratulate Agatha for coming up with her 13-track album.

“As a married woman, you are faced with a lot of responsibilities and you also want to be in the studio. My husband skipped sleeping during when he was recording.

“It was very difficult for him. I remember some time he could sleep in the studio, you can ask Bothwell Nyamhondera what the two went through in the early 1990s.

“I had to accept that I married a musician and that is was part of the package.”

Daisy said they started understanding and appreciating that music actually pays in the late 1990s.

“He was always in the studio, perfecting his songs to entertain, that is why all these albums were good,” she said. “Sometimes he would produce two albums in a year. We remained strong and in the 1990s, I could see the profits that music was actually bringing.”

Daisy said it takes bravery to produce music and artistes should not be discouraged.

She said piracy was continuing to affect the music industry and those buying the pirated discs should respect the time, energy and resources put together in the artistes.

Tuku’s last album was “Hany’Ga” — which he defined as “concern”, and had songs like “Bopoto”, “Inyasha”, “Dehenya”, “Wanza Sori” and“Inombotangaseyi?”

Tuku championed the end to child marriages, resulting in him composing the song “Haasati Aziva (You can’t pledge your child for marriage).”

During the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, Mtukudzi once authored an opinion in The Herald newspaper, calling for an end to this harmful practice.