"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and first recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube", through South African Gallo Record Company. Lyrics of Linda's original version were written in Zulu, while those of the English one were later written by George David Weiss.

Solomon Popoli Linda OIG, also known as Solomon Ntsele, was a South African musician, singer and composer best known as the composer of the song "Mbube", which later became the pop music success "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and gave its name to the Mbube style of isicathamiya a cappella later popularized by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.