Solomon Linda - Rediscovery

Rediscovery

In 2000, South African journalist Rian Malan wrote a feature article for the magazine Rolling Stone, describing Linda's story and estimating that the song had earned US $15 million for its use in The Lion King alone. Malan and the South African filmmaker François Verster cooperated to make a television documentary named A Lion's Trail which tells Solomon Linda's story and was screened by PBS. In 2004, with the backing of the South African government and Gallo Records, Linda's descendants in South Africa sued The Walt Disney Company for its use in The Lion King movie and stage musical without paying royalties to them.