Seeger renamed the song "Wimoweh" and the Weavers recorded the song in 1952. An American musicologist Alan Lomax discovered the original South African recording of "Mbube" and he gave it to his friend Pete Seeger, who belonged to a folk singing group The Weavers. This left the possibility of pursuing a lawsuit in the future. This did not happen and Linda's work was recorded and modified by other music artists. The heirs would then be entitled to those rights and be in a position to renegotiate any future deals. Since South Africa was still a British Colony when the rights were sold, under the Dickens Clause in British Law, all rights were supposed to revert to his heirs after 25 years of his death. Linda sold his rights of the song Mbube to Gallo Record Company for 10 shillings. Some songs such as Yetul' isgqoko" (Take off your hat) and Sikhalela izwe lakithi (We mourn for our country) carried political undertones protesting against the oppression and the harsh life experienced by Black South Africans under colonial rule. Although Mbube is Linda's best known recorded song, he composed and recorded other songs as well.
By 1949, Mbube had sold over 100,000 copies, making Linda a musical star in South Africa.
In 1938, Linda and the Evening Birds recorded several songs in Eric Gallo's recording studios with the assistance of a talent scout. Their performances at weddings and choir competitions made them popular around Johannesburg. He began singing with his uncles and later started a group known as Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds. In the early 1930s, Linda moved to Johannesburg where he worked at Mayi Mayi furniture shop in Small Street in 1931, before moving to work at the Carlton Hotel in 1933. Linda showed a keen interest in music and fused these into Zulu songs that he wrote and sang with his friends at weddings and events around the community. He also witnessed a visiting group of African Americans from the United States, the Jubilee Singers. At the school, Linda was exposed to different music genres through church music and choir contests. Linda was born in Pomeroy in rural KwaZulu Natal in 1909, and went to Gordon Memorial Mission School.
On 8 October 1962, Solomon Linda, the singer and composer of Mbube, which became the pop hit as 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', died without receiving royalties for his work.
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