True love never fails...

Jonathan Butler is a South African singer-songwriter who can boast of being the first South African black whose first Single was broadcast by white-run radio stations.

It was at a particularly early age that he began his artistic career since it was at the age of 7 that he joined a traveling show, a show in which he was quickly spotted. This allowed him to begin recording covers of well-known songs including “Please stay” by the Drifters and “I love you how you love me” by the Paris Sisters in particular, particularly successful covers which would begin to make him famous during 1975.

In 1978 he managed to join the group 'The Pacific Express', a group with which he recorded no less than 2 albums.

His solo career began in 1983 with the album “Crossroads” but it was mainly 2 albums, “Jonathan Butler” in 1987 and “More than friends” in 1988, which made him famous and made his fortune.

A solo career which will see him release a number of albums that are impressive to say the least, but all those which will be released subsequently will not be able to match the level of success of those reached in the second part of the 80s.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

70s Decade :

Please stay 1975
Sunshine in the morning 1975
I'll be home 1976
Come true (The Pacific Express) 1978
What I feel (The Pacific Express) 1978

80s Decade :

I’ll be waiting for your love 1984
If you're ready (Come go with me) 1986
Haunted by your love 1986
Baby please don’t take it 1986
Lies 1987
Holding on 1987
Overflowing 1987
Take good care of me 1987
True love never fails 1988
More than friends 1988
Sarah, Sarah 1988
There's one born every minute (I'm a sucker for you) 1988
It’s so hard to let you go 1989

90s Decade :

Heal our land 1990
Sing me your love song 1990
Black & white in colour 1990
Deliverance 1990
Guguletu 1990
I'm on my knees 1994
No getting over (No way no how) 1994
Can we start all over again 1995
Do you love me 1997
The other side of the world 1997
Can't let go 1999
Through it all 1999

2000s Decade :

Forever tonight 2000
Love doesn't matter now 2000
Shine a light 2000
Take me back 2002
River of life 2002
That's why we praise him 2004
Don't you worry 2004
Baby love 2005
Fire and rain 2005
Don't you worry 2006
Love never fails 2006
Gonna lift you up 2007
You're my everything 2007

2010s Decade :

So strong 2010
Factual 2010
You're all that I need 2012
I stand on your word 2012
I know he cares 2012
This Christmas 2013
Merry Christmas to you 2013
Heart and soul 2014
Song for you 2014
I am that I am 2015
Never find a better love 2015
I'll never fall in love again 2018
This guy's in love with you 2018
What the world needs now 2018
Mary did you know ? 2019
Love is 2019

2020s Decade :

Superwoman (Where were you when I needed you) 2023
No tomorrow 2023
Rainbow nation 2023

Tracks :

1975...the particularly successful debut of young Jonathan, at least in his native land. A real feat in itself given the context of the time...

1975...particularly notable beginnings which will allow him to position himself ideally for the future of events inevitably...

1976...the main thing is done as they say and it only remains for young Jonathan to show now that he can exist on his own...

1978...he will still go through the grouped mode before going solo for good just to learn the tricks of the trade...

1978...after the luxury covers and the grouped mode everything is ready now. All that remains is for him to produce his first personal compositions...

1984...it will take him 6 years to do it but this time he is indeed in charge. It now remains to produce THE title of the big takeoff...

1985...it won't be right away but the rise in power is real and above all linear. It will inevitably end up paying for all of this...

1986...we find him in duo mode of shock and charm on this revisited version of the Staple Singers title dating from 1973. A duo which will give him his first success, finally...

1986...he will do a little less well with this title but the best is to come regardless. Now the world knows him and that's the main thing...

1986...new title classified, certainly mainly in the United States, but that's at least that. So far everything is going as planned...

1987...then comes THIS title ! A title which will remain as the highest ranked in his entire discography and which places him One Shot in the musical Pantheon of the 80s. HU-GE !

1987...this title will not be able to compete with the enormous previous title but it will do more than well on both sides of the Atlantic...

1987...all his titles will not necessarily meet the same fate and some will go unnoticed to say the least, including this one unfortunately...

1987...this one on the other hand will not go unnoticed, far from it. Certainly it will not remain as its highest ranked title but it will have a most flattering run in the Charts in any case...

1988...a year 1988 which gets off to a mixed start with a first title which will go somewhat under the radar but nothing worrying at this stage, that's for sure...

1988...business resumes with this new title, showing that there was no reason to worry, everything is under control as they say...

1988...almost all the titles that will be released during this year 1988 will be classified. Certainly at different levels but still...

1988...the main thing is that the adventure unrolls as planned and that he achieves successes with more than obvious ease. Hope it lasts...

1989...small year 1989 from all points of view : a single title and the most limited success. Looking forward to the next decade...

1990...afterwards it remains to be seen what this new decade has in store for him : stagnation, recession, new lease of life ? Good question...

1990...at this stage we will rather talk about stagnation which is not necessarily a bad thing in itself because it means that he still manages to classify his titles...

1990...a title which will not be officially released as a Single but which it would have been a shame not to bring back to light. It is now done...

1990...same for this one. It must be said that he will release 2 albums the same year from which these titles will come and which will not be released as Singles worthy of the name...

1990...the fact remains that there is still quality in all that so these titles also have the right to exist somewhat in the open...

1994...another single-title year in terms of Single release. The production of Singles slows down from year to year and does not necessarily bode well for the future...

1994...this title will therefore not be officially released but it would have deserved to be released like the others. Good work on this once again...

1995...the year 1995 will hardly do better than the year 1994 in terms of release of titles. Only one title once again officially launched...

1997...a career which will take a very different turn in terms of inspiration, not musical but mystical. From now on everything will be focused on religion...

1997...an assumed bias that will be his until the end. Several artists will have opted for this career choice with necessarily a risk to assume...

1999...because openly displaying one's religious beliefs de facto marginalizes. But that seems to be the least of his worries at this point...

1999...whatever the quality, it is still of a high level and that is the main thing. We will therefore only remember this aspect concerning him...

2000... here he is, all the same, attacking his 4th decade of career, which is no small thing. And it's far, very far from being over...

2000...because it is clear that he still has things to offer and especially to sing with the result of an album production which will even accelerate...

2000...rare are the artists who will have almost produced more albums in the second half of their career than in the first. And yet that's exactly what he's going to do...

2002...he will no longer rank any Singles but he still manages to rank the albums at a minimum. Certainly only in the Jazz Charts but that's at least that...

2002...he therefore benefits from a base of fans who are still consistent and who continue to follow him faithfully, whatever his career direction...

2004...from now on it will be almost an album every 2 years or even at certain times even one album per year. Impressive...

2004...an inspiration that manages to maintain himself over time at a truly astonishing level and good for him, to say the least...

2005...we still have to remember that he started his career in 1975 and that he is still here 30 years later, which is no small thing...

2005...a longevity that he obviously owes only to his talent, there is no miracle in these cases. The less talented ones have disappeared for a long time...

2006...as we often say, 2 is even better ! This is what he will try to prove on this new opus even if the result will be nice but nothing more...

2006...an opus produced in public and in a large-scale Sunday office format. Daring bet but successful bet on this one...

2007...a desire not to give up which is frankly impressive. But it is clear that his mystical inspiration strongly encourages him to do so...

2007...a desire to write for him but also and above all in homage to the higher forces which guide him. It definitely helps in these cases...

2010...and one more decade, one more ! Exceptional longevity for an artist who is undoubtedly among the most gifted of his generation...

2010...it's clear that you don't last that long without having slightly above average talent, which is his case, it's clear...

2012...to compose him seems to be solely a matter of thanksgiving in gratitude to the forces around him. Everyone follows their own path as they see fit...

2012...after mixing modern sounds with righteous words does no harm, on the contrary, as long as it is not done with a proselytic aim...

2012...a know-how in the Intimist which has always been his great strength and which he manages to cultivate and maintain decade after decade...

2013...with each new opus we say to ourselves that it may be the last as he has produced so many titles in the past. And each time he comes back inexorably...

2013...this time it will be in special Christmas titles mode. On this point he will at least have the merit of trying to offer titles a little different from all those we usually hear in this register...

2014...a decade 2010 which will see him produce no less than 7 albums, an incredible feat to say the least when we remember that he began his career at the end of the 70s...

2014...because where most of the artists of his generation have already disappeared for a long time, he is still there in any case...

2015...and he has absolutely no plans to give up. He will go to the end and it doesn't matter whether there is success or not...

2015...and success there is. Certainly minimal success but success all the same which can only encourage him to continue the adventure as far as possible...

2018...Faith, when it is well oriented, allows you to move mountains or quite simply allows you to believe in the future unwaveringly, which is inexorably the case...

2018...he believes and he will believe it until the end. No matter the obstacles and mishaps along the way, he only sees the good side of things...

2018...a dense 2010 decade, very dense with titles of all kinds. And it's certainly not the core fans who will complain about it, far from it...

2019...new foray into the Christmas special register and once again he will deliver titles that are a little more original than the average...

2019...we definitely take it ! Good work as always but with him it's been like this for a lot of years, even a lot of decades...

2023...he will have gone through the 70s, then the 80s, then the 90s, then the 2000s, then the 2010s and here he is proudly starting this new 2020 decade...

2023...who would have believed when he started his career in 1978 that he would still be here almost 45 years later ? And yet it is indeed the case...