Joanna Field

Joan Elizabeth Lubbe was born in 1948 in Boksburg, Johannesburg, and came to professional music by one of the most unlikely routes imaginable. After completing her schooling at Johannesburg Technical High School, she took a job as a receptionist, singing in a country band in her spare time after hours. She married in 1967 and continued singing around the house, entirely unaware that her voice was about to be heard by someone who would change the course of her life. A neighbour noticed her talent, made an introduction to musician Johnny Collini, and that connection led to an audition with Peter Lotis, who signed her to Gallo Records.

Her debut single Goodbye John I Love You was released in 1973, and while it introduced her to the market, it was 1977 that truly announced her arrival. Silwermaan topped the Afrikaans Treffers hit parade and established her as a firm favourite in the South African country music landscape, a genre she made distinctly her own.

The 1980s brought new collaborations and broader visibility. She worked alongside notable South African acts including Gene Rockwell and Sias Reinecke, and in 1982 her single Don't Fly Too High charted for twelve weeks on the national charts. In the early 1980s she was invited by Terry Dempsey to join Plastik Mak, the real-life version of a group he had originally created fictitiously for the South African film Follow That Rainbow. As a member of that group, she charted with Love Connection in 1981.

In 1984 she took part in the national Carling Country Tour, one of the most significant country music events of the decade. She also contributed vocals to the beloved Springbok Hits album series, collaborated with John Edmond on several children's albums, and in 1989 joined the ensemble group Over The Hillbillies alongside Billy Forrest, Lance James, Clive Bruce and Sally Vaughn.

Joanna Field may never have sought the spotlight, but once it found her, she held it with quiet, consistent grace across more than two decades of South African musical life.