Legendary guitarist and songwriter Paul Simon has added Thandiswa Mazwai to his already star-studded Graceland 25th anniversary tour, which starts next month.

She follows in the footsteps of the late great Miriam Makeba, who also toured with him.

Simon has already roped in Ray Phiri, Hugh Masekela, Tony Cedras, Barney Rachabane and Ladysmith Black Mambazo for the nine-date tour beginning with two shows on consecutive nights in Dublin, Ireland, on July 12 and 13. The tour then takes in London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Herning (Sweden), Stockholm and Oslo before wrapping up in Bergen, Norway, on July 26.

On Saturday, Mazwai played at the Lincoln Centre in New York, in the Pan Jazz festival, which blends African and Caribbean music.

Mazwai has been making frequent trips to the US, playing gigs and working on her third solo album.

Her hectic schedule only gets busier.

She will be back in South Africa on Thursday for a week for the Ugu Jazz Festival, in Port Shepstone, before jetting off to begin rehearsals with Simon.

She tweeted yesterday: "It's almost 1am in NYC and I am exhausted after tonight's show ... so it's bedtime for me in the city that doesn't sleep. gunight."

She later tweeted: "Alright New York, let's get into the recording studio now ... ;-)"

On the Graceland tour Mazwai will join Simon on "Under African Skies", which he first sang with Linda Ronstadt.

Often referred to as a watershed album, Graceland is Simon's most commercially successful album featuring an eclectic mixture of South African musical styles.