Cape Town - Singer-songwriter Marc Hendricks, who is lovingly known as South Africa's singing doctor, is capturing hearts with his latest release, SAY – a song celebrating living your truth.
According to Hendricks, the idea of living one’s truth is universally powerful, irrespective of how you choose to identify.
He said: “It cuts across all colours, cultures, faiths, nationalities and genders. Everyone wants to be an authentic version of themselves. People are done being put into boxes and given labels they have not chosen. At the end of the day everyone deserves respect.”
Hendricks released the song in collaboration with long-time friend, musician and producer Gavin Goldberg.
The singing doctor gained popularity in 2017 when he released an album that has been used to raise funds for life-changing initiatives at Red Cross Hospital.
Hendricks doesn’t only sing, he is also a paediatric oncologist based at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town, and is the recipient of the prestigious national Professor Bongani Mayosi Netcare Scholarship.
This is not the first time he has collaborated with Goldberg as the duo recorded two singles, Danger (1999) and Satisfy (2000), the latter earning them recognition as newcomers with a Sama nomination in the Best Pop-Rock Single category in 2001. The full album, Clear, followed later that same year.
Hendricks said about Goldberg: “Gavin is insanely talented, inexhaustibly creative and a complete mensch, all rolled into one. We have been friends for almost 30 years. Working online and in the studio with him was unadulterated fun. We know how to vibe off each other," he said.
Their latest collaboration, SAY, comes before Marc's second solo album due for release next year,and has been in the works for just over two years.
"I initially wrote SAY in my late twenties when I was learning how to navigate being queer, but still felt that I had to justify who I was. I was fed up with all the rationalising and judgement”, said Hendricks.
He added that SAY was his way of raging against the machine.
"Now, many years later, my life has changed radically for the better. The song has been reinvented. It has a new energy. And most importantly apart from being just angry, it feels defiant now, in a victorious kind of way, celebratory, and liberating.”
SAY debuted at No 9 on the Heart FM SA Top 10 on No 6 on the CTM Top 40, and is available on all streaming platforms.
Weekend Argus