CHIMURENGA star Thomas Mapfumo slept at Los Angeles International Airport's departure lounge last Thursday after missing his UK flight, New Zimbabwe.com can reveal.
Details of Mapfumo’s unplanned airport siesta came after he sparked a new row with promoters of his UK tour last weekend, claiming they had failed to honour a contract worth £12,000 for three shows.
Mapfumo claims the promoters, Y2K Promotions, only paid him £4,000.
The star also blamed the promoters for giving him “wrong information” about his flight schedule, a charge which they strongly reject.
Mapfumo, who lives in the US state of Oregon, left his home shortly after 2AM on Thursday morning for Portland Airport where he flew to Los Angeles for his connecting flight to the UK -- an Air New Zealand plane.
The singer said: “They (promoters) gave me wrong information. I went to the wrong terminal. The number on my information paper was Gate 74, and when I went there I was told it was not my plane.
“Air New Zealand was on the other side of terminal, and by the time I got there the plane was gone.
“I slept at the airport.”
Mapfumo was only rescued hours later when the promoters – who say they had already twice rebooked tickets for Mapfumo’s six band members at a great cost – turned to former Radio 2 DJ Ezra Tshisa Sibanda who used his credit card to buy the singer a new $1,500 ticket. Sibanda had a financial interest in Mapfumo's joint show with Oliver Mtukudzi in Leicester last Friday night.
The singer, who was due on stage at 10PM in Leicester, only arrived in the UK at 9PM before being whisked to the Athena arena where Oliver Mtukudzi was already performing.
Mapfumo said: “I had not slept for two days. I went to the hotel for the briefest shower, and was on stage minutes later. My body was aching, but I did my best. It was hell. Terrible.”
Exhausted ... Mapfumo on stage in Leicester after a late dash from airport
A spokesman for Y2K Promotions Fredrick Matenga said: “Millions of people fly around the world every year, guided by a simple computer print-out called an itinerary.
“Mapfumo had an itinerary, and missed his flight. How can an itinerary be wrong?”
Matenga, one of the organisers of a summer festival cancelled after Mapfumo failed to turn up, also strongly refuted the singer’s claims he was owed some £8,000.
Mapfumo claimed for the Leicester show with Mtukudzi, he was not paid a penny. When he threatened not to go on stage in Manchester, the singer said the promoters paid £2,500.
When he performed in London, he once again delayed his appearance on stage until 2AM holding out for his performance fees. He claims he was only paid about £800.
Mapfumo’s new manager, Robin Mattison, also says she is owed money by the promoters after she was asked to buy three air tickets for members of Mapfumo’s band who changed their flight schedule.
In reply, Matenga said: “If at your workplace you are sent on assignment, and you miss a flight, it cannot be your employer’s responsibility. We bought tickets for the band but last minute changes on their side ensured they could not fly out as originally planned -- nullifying all seven tickets.
“We are not responsible for this, and hope that Mapfumo’s manager will get her refund from him.
“In relation to the contract, there was never a contract. I drafted the contract, but it was never signed. We agreed to pay Mapfumo £10,000 for the two shows in Leicester and London. Manchester was going to compensate for the time when he failed to come in the summer, and he was to be paid whatever we got at the gate which we calculated would be around £2,000 which is how he has come to the figure of £12,000.
“By our calculations, we paid him £6,000 on this tour. If we add the deposit we paid for the summer tour when he failed to turn up, we owe him around £1,500 which we have agreed to settle over the next 30 days.”
Mapfumo, who left the UK for South Africa on Wednesday morning, said he would be more selective when choosing promoters next time.
He said: “I want to come and sing for my fans, not run after promoters to get my money. I have musicians to pay and it's not nice.
“We have to be very careful of people who promote us. It’s terrible because most of our black brothers don’t have money to do things. Trying to make money out of nothing is not gonna work, you need money to make something.
We are not gonna work with anyone who is not a proper promoter in future. Next time we come here, we would be going into the heart of London, that’s where our money is. Unfortunately for our friends who want to see us, they have to come to us now, we can’t go to them.”
The singer said he also intends to report the owners of London's Stratford Rex nightclub to an association of musicians for mistreatment. He claims his band was asked to leave the stage while still doing the sound check, a claim which the club disputes.
Mapfumo is spending a week in South Africa, he says to discuss his royalties with record company, Sheer Sounds.