Career
Born in Johannesburg, Rabie worked as a journalist for the Afrikaans newspapers Die Burger and Rapport. In 1986, as apartheid reached its zenith under National Party-led government under State President P.W. Botha, Rabie started performing politically themed cabaret at arts festivals under his new stage name (kerkorrel meaning church organ in Afrikaans). In 1987, Rabie was fired by Rapport for using quotes from Botha"s speeches in his music
He then became a full-time musician and performer under the name Johannes Kerkorrel en die Gereformeerde Blues Band (Johannes Kerkorrel and the Reformed Blues Band), a deliberate reference to the Reformed Church.
The band also included the Afrikaans singer-songwriter Koos Kombuis. In 1989, they released the album Eet Kreef (Eat Crayfish) on the now-defunct Shifty Records label, which was a commercial success despite its tracks being banned from radio airplay by the state-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation, which was (and still is) the government mouthpiece.
The subsequent regional tour of college campuses and art festivals was called Voëlvry (literally free as a bird but here meaning outlawed), and Rabie"s controversial reinvention of Afrikaans popular music became known as the Voëlvry movement. In 1990, Rabie visited Amsterdam, and almost simultaneously the track Hillbrow from the Eet Kreef album became a hit in Belgium, and Rabie followed its success with a solo tour.
In subsequent years he enjoyed substantial artistic success in Belgium and the Netherlands, and spent much of his time in Belgium.
Here he also befriended Stef Bos, a Dutch cabaret artist, with whom he would share a number of concerts. Rabie hanged himself on 12 November 2002 in Kleinmond, near Hermanus on the Western Cape coast. After Rabie"s death, several artists recorded tribute songs to his life and work.
An incomplete list follows:
Stef Bos – Pelgrimsrus
Riku Lätti – Ysbeer
Amanda Strydom – Ek Het Gedroom
Karen Zoid – Foto Teen Die Muur
Jak De Priester – Kerkorrel
Kristoe Strauss – Sit Dit Self Af
January Blohm – Johnny K
Rabie is a much covered artist.
Among the cover versions that exist are:
Stef Bos – Hillbrow
Riku Lätti – Somer
Amanda Strydom – Hoe Ek Voel and Halala Afrika
Van Coke Kartel - Energie.