A musical tribute to much-loved Alberto Griffiths

Tributes were paid to much-loved local musician, Alberto Griffiths, at an emotional funeral service at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church on Saturday.
Father Zakhele conducted the service with his family members and close friends, many with whom he played in bands with, being the pall bearers.
Alberto was just 33 when he passed away after an illness in Dundee Hospital on Monday. A scholar of Uelzen Primary and Dundee High, Alberto was ‘discovered’ by Mo Karim and his wife, Shaida, while singing in the Dundee High choir.
With music in his blood, Alberto pursued his career and honed his talent along with many other local musical personalities such as Naresh Gopie, Charles Koobanally and many more.

The prize was to play at Sun City and they were earmarked to be the opening act for Mike and the Mechanics who were headlining at Sun City.
He made a name for himself along with Mo Karim with Inner Secrets who also cut a CD of original Mo Karim music. Muddy Waters was their best known song and after years of playing on the local Northern KZN circuit, Inner Secrets had a break to play in venues in Johannesburg where they won a battle of the bands competition. The prize was to play at Sun City and they were earmarked to be the opening act for Mike and the Mechanics who were headlining at Sun City.
Sadly, due to circumstances out of their hands and financial constraints, the boys had to come back home. There was another chance to play at Sun City and despite another crisis of equipment failure and a suit case of their clothing going astray, Inner Secrets still finished third with the judges praising them for their originality.
Back in Dundee, Alberto joined up with the band Dynamic Shades and still had many songs to sing. Sadly, a blossoming career was cut short.
The fourth child of William and Marlene Griffiths, Alberto was married to Chantal Johnson of Johannesburg and they have a daughter. He is survived by two brothers and two sisters.

This video is of Westlife’s original but to be honest yesterday, Leslie’s version was just better..
The funeral service concluded with a touching tribute by Leslie Wentzel who also played with Inner Secrets and Dynamic Shades. Leslie described ‘Berto’ as his mentor and then performed a stunning rendition of Westlife’s Flying without Wings – a song Alberto loved to perform. It was a performance that ensured there was not a dry eye in the church. Afterwards, Mo Karim told the Courier that Alberto had written a Zulu song that Mo would love to see recorded as a tribute to one of Dundee’s finest singers. RIP Alberto.