Ray Phiri (born 23 March 1947, Hermansberg, near Nelspruit, South Africa – died 12 July 2017, Nelspruit, South Africa) was a South African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga guitarist and vocalist, songwriter, producer and arranger. He founded the soul band
The Cannibals in Johannesburg in 1972. When that group folded, he went on to launch
Stimela, a hugely successful mbaquanga/fusion outfit which released several platinum-selling albums and appeared on
Paul Simon’s [m=55658] album and subsequent tours.
He served as chairperson of the Mpumalanga Arts Council.