{"id":832406,"date":"2025-07-23T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=832406"},"modified":"2025-07-24T08:20:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T06:20:13","slug":"the-american-rock-band-that-went-to-south-africas-top-private-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/832406\/the-american-rock-band-that-went-to-south-africas-top-private-school\/","title":{"rendered":"The American rock band that went to South Africa\u2019s top private school\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kongos is an American rock band made up of four South African brothers who attended South Africa\u2019s best-performing private school, Saheti. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnny, Jesse, Dylan and Danny are the four brothers who make up the Texas-based alternative rock group with deep ties to South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their father is John Kongos, a South African-born singer who had a successful career in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s and is known for the song He’s Gonna Step on You Again. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers were born in London to John and his wife Tess. When the boys were young, the family moved to Johannesburg, and they played music with their father, who had his own home studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While in South Africa, the brothers, who have Greek heritage, attended Saheti in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While at the school, the brothers further honed their musical skills while also learning the Greek language and Greek dancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the average matric scoring 4.5 distinctions in 2024, Saheti<\/a> was the best-performing private school in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers have not forgotten their time at the school and have been regularly engaged in alumni activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite moving to the USA, the band regularly returned to school. They previously performed at a fundraising event for the George Bizos SAHETI Scholarship and Bursary Fund. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, Johnny<\/a>, who plays accordion and keyboards for the band, wished the school a happy birthday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou (Saheti) hold such a special place in our memory. It was so important to our upbringing,\u201d said Johnny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really wish we could find a school like Saheti for all of us who have kids that are heading to school\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite their connection to the school, the brothers would finish their schooling at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona and attend Arizona State University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Career success <\/h2>\n\n\n
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Kongos at their childhood home in Johannesburg<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The brothers formed the band in 2003, but only took it seriously in 2007. They released their first album at that time, and, despite positive reviews, went relatively unnoticed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The band released their second album, Lunatic, in 2012. Although the album did well initially in South Africa, it only started to gain traction in the US in early 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The band\u2019s accordion-heavy single Come With Me Now<\/em> became highly popular and has been used extensively across several forms of media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was an early favourite when the band opened for Linkin Park in South Africa in 2011, but, took years for it to be played by American radio stations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song has since been used by broadcasters CNN and the BBC, and has been used in promotions for WWE and NASCAR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has also featured in TV shows including The Grand Tour<\/em>, The Originals<\/em>, NCIS: New Orleans<\/em>, Running Wild with Bear Grylls<\/em>, and was a song in Guitar Hero Live. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song has since gone double platinum in the US and Canada, Platinum in New Zealand and silver in the UK. The single’s success led the band to be signed to the US-based Epic Records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the success of Lunatic, the brothers toured extensively across North America, Europe and South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers would go on to release their third album, Egomaniac, in 2016 and would again tour the album extensively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, they released a documentary about their life on the road. One episode shows the brothers visiting Saheti, with a flashback showing a 7-year-old Jesse playing piano at the school in 1990. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After going independent following disagreements with Epic, the brothers released another album in January 2019 called 1929, Pt. 1<\/em>, with Pt. 2 coming in October of that year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1929, Pt. 3 would come out in 2022. The brothers moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Austin, Texas and are currently working on their seventh album. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kongos’ music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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