The band is made up of Dr Victor, Winston Dlamini, George Longane, Petrus Williams, Gladwin Mafhoko, David Argus and Gustav Smyth. Most of the band were born in Kimberly, capital of Northern Cape. In their youth they listened to American rhythm and blues, reggae and traditional African music, which had an impact on their sound. About their name, Dr Vic says: "The reason we called ourselves the Rasta Rebels was that, at that time, reggae was popular and we were doing many covers of people like Bob Marley and Eddie Grant. But essentially we were just normal pop boys doing good reggae covers. In a way we rebelled against the concept of Rastafarianism."
In their earlier career they backed local stars Lucky Dube and Yvonne Chaka Chaka on European tours. Record industry boss Chris Ghelakis then took the new band under his wing. Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels' first album largely included cover versions. Reggae star Grant's Give Me Hope Jo'anna and pop singer Dr Alban's Hello Africa hits also featured on the album. The band has subsequently grown in popularity and have performed as support acts to international stars such as Paul Simon, Shabba Ranks and Tina Turner.
In 1997 they released a new album Fatty Boom Boom and supported Cuban-born pop diva Gloria Estefan during her SA performances. In recent years they performed huge applause in Kampala, Uganda, for the Ugandan King Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi's birthday celebration.
Their repertoire consists of 50% originals, and 50% covers, from George Benson to Santana!
