ON THE COVER : Tom Close

Inspirational-soul singer Tom Close graces our cover this week. In our issue, Tom shares never-before-revealed details about his journey into music. However, the name Muyomba might not be familiar to many of you, after all it does not sound anyway in Rwanda’s music industry, but he is among Rwanda’s hottest upcoming singers. To some of you, you are likely to confuse the name with the American actor and film producer Tom Cruise—Not. It’s our celebrity, Tom Close—the music icon. The 3rd year student of medicine at the National University of Rwanda is a talented singer, composer and songwriter, who came to fame at an early age, and has staged several concerts with international musicians, the likes of Shaggy and Sean Paul, and his music has captured the international airwaves. Tom is indeed famous, thanks to his ‘Mbwira’ and ‘Kuki’ tracks that have earned him a massive fan base in the country and beyond. But for Tom, this is just the beginning to his remarkable career. He is currently working on a mega and exciting project, which will include the launch of his website and release of new album called “Sibeza”, early June and many more tracks. In 2008, the star was crowned Rwanda’s Best Musician of the Year 2008, an annual event organized by the National University of Rwanda (NUR). Tom, born in October1986, started singing at the tender age of 10, as a Sunday school choir member, in his childhood Church, and ventured into music as a solo career singer in 2008. This charismatic singer has released over 20 single tracks, and one album titled, ‘Kuki’, a hit popular on the local radios stations and on the national television (Rwanda Television)Tom is living his life in the spotlight and continuing to shine as a consummately talented singer and future medical doctor. He is scheduled to perform in the United States of American, in December. Ends