KELLY KHUMALO RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE ‘MERRY GO ROUND’
The award-winning South African singer answers fan demand for new music with her first single of 2026
Kelly Khumalo is back with new music. The award-winning singer returns 4 September with Merry Go Round, her first single of 2026, following growing demand from fans for new material.
Since the release of Rebirth, Kelly’s fans have been asking when they can expect to hear what comes next. Merry Go Round is her answer, and the beginning of an exciting new chapter for one of South Africa’s most distinctive voices.
Across ten studio albums, Kelly has built a career on doing things her own way, moving confidently between Afro-pop, gospel and jazz and delivering major hits including Asine and Empini. Her powerhouse voice and deeply personal approach to storytelling have made her one of the country’s most recognisable recording artists.
Now, Merry Go Round puts that storytelling front and centre, with a song drawn directly from Kelly’s own life. Written some months back, Merry Go Round was born from a relationship that gradually became a “situationship”, caught in a cycle where things were neither moving forward nor reaching an end.
The song was composed by David Matunda, the well-known music producer from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, adding another distinctly African creative voice to Kelly’s latest release.
Kelly explains: “I wrote Merry Go Round during the course of this year when I found myself in a relationship that had really become a situationship. It wasn’t going anywhere, but it wasn’t ending either. We just kept going round and round and round, with no real progress and no conclusion. It started to feel exactly like a merry-go-round. I think so many people have experienced that place where you’re asking yourself, ‘Where is this actually going?’ That’s where the song came from.”
For Kelly, releasing the song is also about reconnecting with the fans who have been waiting patiently for new music.
“My fans have been asking me for new music since Rebirth, and I’m so happy that I can finally give them something new. They have stayed with me throughout every chapter of my journey and I’m incredibly grateful for that. Merry Go Round feels like the right song to start this next chapter.”
Born in Johannesburg, Kelly’s relationship with music began long before the recording studio, singing in Sunday School and church choirs and drawing inspiration from her grandmother, who raised 14 grandchildren and composed songs within their community.
Since the release of her debut album T.K.O. in 2005, Kelly has grown into one of South Africa’s most celebrated female artists. Her accolades include Best Female Artist of the Year at the South African Music Awards and Best Female Album at the Metro FM Awards for My Truth.
Throughout it all, Kelly has refused to allow conventional expectations to dictate the pace or direction of her career, guided instead by a simple mantra: “I run my own race.”
And Merry Go Round is only the beginning. Kelly will soon reveal details of upcoming tours and live concerts across South Africa for the summer season, signalling a busy new period of music and live performance ahead. For now, she is giving fans exactly what they have been asking for: a new Kelly Khumalo song.
Merry Go Round is available on all major streaming platforms
Pre-save Merry Go Round here: KellyKhumalo.lnk.to/MerryGoRound
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